The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission unanimously voted to grant historic recognition to a building on the former Martin University campus in an emergency meeting Aug. 12.
The designation will temporarily halt a pending demolition petition for the former St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, which served as Martin’s main campus when the school first relocated in 1987.
“Clearly, the church itself is very significant. It needs to be taken care of,” commission president William Browne said at the meeting. “We can’t lose these kinds of assets in our community.”
The emergency meeting was called because a contractor filed a demolition petition for the church building Aug. 7. While C&M Wrecking was listed as the petitioner, a phone number for Eastern Star Church was also listed.
Administrator Meg Busch said that commission staff attempted to contact Eastern Star about the wrecking petition, but did not receive a response. No representatives from Eastern Star were present at the meeting.
Eastern Star Church purchased the former Martin University campus and surrounding properties after the eastside university closed in December 2025. The church is converting the campus into a community center, called the ROCK Impact Center, according to a new website.
The Rev. Anthony Murdock, executive pastor at Eastern Star, told Mirror Indy earlier this year that the property will include affordable housing, education, financial literacy and community engagement, as an extension of the church’s outreach in the Arlington Woods neighborhood.
In the Aug. 12 meeting, the commission also unanimously approved a resolution to adopt a historic area plan for the former church into the comprehensive plan for Marion County.
If that resolution is approved by the Metropolitan Development Commission, the property is protected and the owners are required to get feedback from the historic preservation commission before renovating or updating the property, according to the city’s website.
Those protections will only apply to the church building, and not other buildings on the Martin campus, Busch said during the meeting.
Earlier this year, Indiana Landmarks worked with community members to help seek historic status for the Martin University campus. As of Aug. 11, Busch said the commission has received 572 letters of support for these efforts.
History of a building
The building formerly housed St. Francis de Sales Church, a Catholic church and school that opened in 1881 to serve railroad workers, preservation planner Miriam Burkett said at the meeting.
The church building that remains today was constructed in 1913, Burkett said.
St. Francis de Sales was a hub for eastside students and families until it closed in 1983. The closure was largely because of declining membership caused by the construction of the I-70 interstate, according to Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Martin University moved into the building in 1987, relocating from its original location on 35th Street and College Avenue. Over the years, the school built other buildings around the historic church.
What’s next
The resolution now goes to the Metropolitan Development Commission, which will approve or deny the request to incorporate the historic plan for the church building into Marion County’s wider plan.
Should the broader commission approve that plan, the historic designation will likely be final, Busch said.
The wrecking petition is temporarily halted until the Metropolitan Development Commission makes its decision. It meets next on Aug. 19.
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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, at 317-759-0249 or on most social media @clairerafford.
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