Lamon Brewster walks by the old Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital on Cold Spring Road nearly every day.
“I’ve seen this place come and go, come and go,” said Brewster, who lives in the neighborhood. “Now there’s no hospital. Basically, it’s just sitting.”
But that’ll change soon. Marian University is planning to redevelop the long-vacant former veterans hospital property into an educational hub. The hospital used to be a psychiatric facility. Patients were moved out when a brand-new state facility was completed in 2019 and, a Marian official said, the hospital officially closed in 2020.
Marian is now calling it the Riverside Education Innovation District. The university plans to bring in schools, universities and companies to provide education resources in the Riverside neighborhood.
For Brewster, an Indy native and former professional heavyweight boxing champ, the development represents progress. Though he hasn’t heard much about the project yet, he welcomes more educational resources in the area and is looking for ways his boxing nonprofit, Brewster’s Place, can get involved.
“It’s so much that this place could offer, and so I think this would be the perfect place,” Brewster said. “You don’t have to go all the way across town. It’s right here in the community.”
At a kickoff event July 9, university officials, government leaders and community members gathered to celebrate the project. Over five years, the university and its partners plan to invest $137 million in the renovations.
Marian President Dan Elsener hopes to transform the vacant former hospital into a place where neighbors of all ages can learn and grow.
“We want to make an ecosystem where people see their future,” Elsener said.
What’s planned for the district?
Though renovations are officially underway after years of planning, it’ll still be a while before the new district opens its doors.
The first phase of redevelopment will focus on the original veterans hospital building, which opened in 1932.
The historic structure will be transformed into office space for local educational groups, including Marian’s Klipsch Educators College. Other groups include Marian’s City Connects program, which places community liaisons in the schools, and The Mind Trust, a nonprofit that supports new and growing charter schools in the city.
The university is also forming partnerships with area schools, such as Enlace Academy and Cold Spring School, to provide reading instruction resources for both teachers and students.
In addition, St. Mary’s Early Childhood Center and Vincennes University plan to bring early childhood education and career and technical training to the district.
Construction is scheduled to start in July, with the first tenants expected to move in by fall 2027. Next steps, Elsener said, will be to bring in companies willing to partner with the university for internships and work opportunities.
During the planning process, Elsener said the university’s been careful to build trust with community members and reassure them that Marian’s there for the long haul.
“Our goal is to be here to walk alongside,” Elsener said. “Because right now, too many people want to leave the neighborhood. We want to make it so they want to stay.”
What Riverside leaders think
Brandon Cosby, executive director of Flanner House, said that while he’s pleased with Marian’s efforts so far to engage the community, he plans to ensure those promises are kept throughout the development process.
“It’s important for whomever is at the table to keep bringing the voices forward, saying, ‘By the way, this is what we committed,’” he said. “We need to make sure that what we’re doing is only secondary to how we’re doing it.”
Cosby wants to make sure that Marian’s initiatives meet neighbors where they are. For him, that means prioritizing adult literacy programs as a cornerstone of the project. One out of six adults in Indianapolis read at or below a fifth-grade level, according to local nonprofit Indy Reads.
“It better be open. It better be accessible. It better be attainable for people in this community,” Cosby said. “My job is to think about what the needs are of the residents in the northwest area and making sure that they have critical access points.”
Neighbors also hope Marian’s efforts will help improve reading scores for the next generation.
As a teacher at Global Preparatory Academy, Careena Jackson sees her students struggle with reading daily. Jackson has high hopes that Marian’s new district will serve as a third space for students to get the extra help they need.
“They don’t have that extra practice at home,” Jackson said. “This initiative outside of a school setting, it is an additional layer of support for students.”
Jackson, who’s also president of the Riverside Civic League, has been involved in the community listening process. She’s been heartened to see leaders taking her feedback, such as prioritizing programs for English language learners.
Overall, she’s hoping the district will be a true community hub for teachers, students and families.
“Marian University being a top school in education and them partnering with Riverside schools,” she said, “is going to be essential to seeing these test scores come up and seeing these students be empowered in ownership of their education.”
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Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, on most social media @clairerafford or on Signal 317-759-0429.
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