On Saturday, we wrote about the attention being paid to mass transit solutions in Indianapolis and how the Indy Connect initiative is now holding public meetings to judge its feasibility.
On the heels of that, the city has now landed a $20-million grant as part of the Recovery Act to finish the acclaimed Indianapolis Cultural Trail, which will be a one-of-a-kind urban network tying together the Circle City’s cultural centers while showcasing millions of dollars of public art.
The man who called the Trail “a serious jolt to our local economy and the future of tourism in Indianapolis,” Congressman Andre Carson, has been credited with securing the grant. “The Cultural Trail is a prime example of how the Recovery Act is both working to create jobs immediately and lay the groundwork for future economic growth,” he said.
The stimulus funds mean that the Trail will be completed in time for the 2012 Super Bowl, which will be hosted at Lucas Oil Stadium in the heart of the city. “The fact that the Cultural Trail successfully competed against almost 1,400 other proposals totaling over $57 billion in requests from around the U.S. shows how significant and innovative it is,” said Brian Payne, who came up with the notion of such a Trail during a stroll along the Monon.
Payne, the President of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, is also deeply committed to the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood. CICF is the driving force behind the transformation of IPS No. 37 into a community center in the M-B and the Cultural Trail will be tied to the Monon Trail (and thus Martindale-Brightwood).
Once complete, the Trail will connect the six cultural districts — Mass Ave, Indiana Avenue, the Canal Walk and White River State Park, the Wholesale District and Fountain Square and Broad Ripple Village — designated by the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission in 2001.
There is an incredible amount of data available on the Trail’s official website, including maps, news, photos and events. And it also has this great video, which helped Rep. Carson secure Indianapolis’ grant:
Indianapolis Cultural Trail from Gail Payne on Vimeo.
Noted philosopher
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