Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Spark on the Circle, a temporary public park that occupied a quarter of Monument Circle for four months last year, is coming back this summer with several changes, organizers announced Wednesday morning.
Following a run from July 9 to Nov. 3 last year, organizers rolled up the fake grass and removed the picnic tables, games, plants and giant foam blocks to allow traffic to flow freely through the downtown roundabout again.
But the park will be back for a longer stay this year—from June 1 to Nov. 3—and in a slightly different location, with later hours and alcohol available seven days a week. Follow-up winter programming also is in the works.
Last year, Spark occupied the southwest quadrant of Monument Circle, in the area in front of South Bend Chocolate Co. and Emmis Corp. This year, due to continued construction at the base of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument by the Indiana War Memorials Commission, the park will take up the northwest quadrant, Downtown Indy Inc. announced
That area includes the former Anthem Inc. headquarters building except for a few small retail spaces.
Spark was created through a partnership between the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, Downtown Indy Inc. and Big Car Collaborative, a not-for-profit art and design organization. The Capital Improvement Board allocated $1.5 million over two years for the project, divided into $750,000 for each year.
Taylor Schaffer, CEO of Downtown Indy, said the slightly different placement will help alleviate some delivery and parking challenges the park created for nearby office spaces last year.
At the same time, the southeast quadrant will host the Original Farmers’ Market, which is typically held outside of the City Market on East Market Street. Due to the closure of the City Market for a redevelopment project. the farmer’s market will be held on Monument Circle every Wednesday from May 1 to Oct. 2. The market lasts from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
In addition to the location shift, organizers plan to extend the hours of the park into the evening and continue Spark programming into the holidays. After the Circle of Lights opening ceremony, stakeholders host a festive activation every Saturday and Sunday within the bollards of the northwest quadrant. The holiday activities aren’t expected to disrupt vehicular traffic.
Last year, holiday events downtown had record-setting attendance and ticket sales, Schaffer said. But many of those visitors likely parked in a garage and attended one event before going home.
“It’s really great for that venue, which I support, but it’s not great for the downtown ecosystem,” she said.
That’s why the Spark’s winter operations will aim to leverage existing downtown holiday programming and provide attractions such as arts and cultural experiences or photo opportunities, which should keep people exploring downtown over the holidays.
At the April 12 CIB meeting, Big Car Collaborative Executive Director Jim Walker said that last year’s run of Spark attracted 78,216 visitors and hosted 251 programs.
“It’s just a place where there’s lots of family, a lot of games, a lot of activity, a lot of joy,” Walker said.
The CIB has not committed to funding the program beyond this year. Marci Reddick, president of the CIB, said organizers could seek outside corporate funding to sponsor the event.
“I don’t think we can [maintain our current level of sponsorship],” Reddick said. “But I think having this type of information is going to make it much easier to sell to other corporate sponsors. And so, hopefully, they’ll become self-sustaining.”
Schaffer said future partnerships are something Downtown Indy is working on building, mostly because it will take a diverse stream of funding sources to maintain the park.
In Detroit, where Schaffer and other stakeholders visited in November 2022 to get inspiration for Spark, the public spaces were frequently partnered with local real estate owners. That allowed the experience of the public spaces to be tailored to the needs of nearby residents and office workers, which Schaffer thinks Downtown Indy could implement with Spark.
Correction: The original story put the 2023 version of Spark in the wrong quadrant of Monument Circle. The story has been corrected to say that Spark took place in the southwest quadrant last year.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Congratulations to me. I’ve been officially labeled a coconstituents. Not a solution guy by a constituent.
why would you install a artificial turf to obstruct natural traffic when there is a beautiful military park just two streets north. A park that can provide so much more influence to children. Oh wait! Also alcohal? Somebody please educate this complainer who is providing what he thinks is a more equitable solution.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m the guy who I vested I. His oases on e georgia street. I’m the guy the city bought land next door to build a low barrier shelter without asking.
Zoning g approved it even though it states they won’t if it impacts my quiet enjoyment. So much for zoning.
I apologize for the miss-auto corrects.
Been drinking already this morning, John?
“Natural Traffic” is hilarious
What a pitiful joke, and insult to local business that offer the same basic amenities.!
That corner of the circle has struggled since they demolished the English Opera House. It’s going to get a lot more use from a park as opposed to an unleasable building.
@Kevin, please name the businesses this impacts; I work downtown and can’t think of a single one this will hurt or “insult”. The joke’s on you, bud.
Love it. Make the circle permanently pedestrian-only!
Absolutely not, ever. It’s a traffic circle and always has been, going back 2 centuries. It’s THE central feature of Ralston’s Mile Square grid.
And while there are substantial closures on both Illinois (2+ years for the Signia project) and Penn (1-2 years for the Kimpton project), Meridian and the Circle are both needed as an alternate route through the downtown core during conventions and events.
I agree with Chris B.
I’v seen a lot of town squares and plazas that only have one lane of traffic on one side with traffic restricted to deliveries and public transit. All of these buildings have alleys in the back.
I will say that the circle should have meters if it’s going to stay open to traffic. I’ve never seen a ticket on a car for staying more than two hours. It’s a little ridiculous that so many businesses have permanent no parking zones, AES, Circle Theater, and the Columbia Club all carve out big chunks of space. I think all of these buildings have alley access for deliveries.
I think there’s a happy middle ground here, the Circle definitely doesn’t need three lane-widths worth of space for motor vehicles, and the Circle isn’t considered a thoroughfare by any stretch of the imagination. Some legs probably should be closed to motor vehicle traffic and/or the width of space for motor vehicles should be significantly reduced (one lane of travel in one direction, one for deliveries/pick up/drop off). The remaining space could be programmable, easily expand into large sidewalk cafes, etc.
I agree. If you need to use Monument Circle to navigate downtown, you shouldn’t be driving.
You clearly do not drive through downtown daily.
Chris, the Circle is frequently closed to traffic during major conventions and events. It’s never used as a designated alternate route because it’s not considered a thoroughfare. Yes, it was designed two centuries ago…before cars. It was never meant to be a thoroughfare for motorists. It was always mean to be a central plaza for the city for low-speed means of movement and for lingering.
I have to agree with Corey here, nobody who drives Downtown regularly uses Monument Circle as a primary thoroughfare. It’s always either to serve as a shortcut or for people to gawk at the Christmas Lights from their cars, which defeats the purpose anyway.
Agreed! It would draw more people and investment downtown if it were a permanent park.
Downtown has many parks and plazas already, three within 5 minutes walk of the Circle:
-University Park/War Memorial/American Legion Mall
-Canal
-Lugar Plaza (south side of the CCB)
-City Market Plaza (NE corner of Market & Delaware)
-Plaza (west side of the State Capitol)
-Hudnut Commons (south of the Simon office building on Capitol)
-Bicentennial Unity Plaza (north of Gainbridge)
A lot of those parks are honestly fairly isolated. Monument Circle is the center of the city and is more convenient to more people than almost all of those places.
The City Market plazas are closed in conjunction with the City Market for improvements.
Oh…people are going to “pay” to park to go to this? Think again.
I think the activation on the Circle is a great idea.
Let’s give Carmel a run for its money on a German style Christmas market this winter…. First couple of years in Carmel were cool, now its a nightmare since it is overcrowded 24-7.
The Atheneum did that last year.
Next up: “Activating” all the interstate on-ramps in the city by blocking them with ping-pong tables and porta-potties. Meanwhile, continue to starve the parks of resources. Genius!
Love it Richard!
Go hang out with Aaron Freeman and hit some pedestrians while you’re at it.
The pedestrian who died on Massachusetts Avenue the other day, you can’t blame that on Aaron Freeman. But you can blame it on the city and the Cultural Trail – you know, the geniuses who push pedestrian spaces out into traffic lanes and then give themselves awards for it.
No, I blame the reckless drunk driver. Stop pawning off the faults of motorists onto other people. The guy got wasted and drove when he shouldn’t have. It’s 100% the motorists fault.
Got it. So design is much less consequential than driver responsibility. We should hold drivers accountable. With that established, we now can remove all the No Right on Red signs throughout downtown – right?
Spot on.
An excellent activation! This is especially meaningful for downtown employees breaking during the day as well as young families. Free and approachable programming can be really tough to find.
Agreed. Just do it at University Park, which would have the additional benefit of “good activity” driving off “bad activity” (drug use, loitering, etc.).
Or, here me out, we do it everywhere since the Circle isn’t a thoroughfare and nobody…and I mean NOBODY…”needs” to drive their vehicle on it. They just don’t. Because it is legally not a thoroughfare and does not provide direct drive access to any buildings.
Since you’re so adamant about pushing pedestrian activity to the side (you know, pedestrians, things that cities have), maybe you can also just go drive on a dedicated track? You’ll still go around and around in circles without ruining everyone else’s good time.
You and others commenting clearly do not commute by car through downtown to and from the south side of town daily. Even at 15mph going halfway around the Circle on Meridian is preferable to the messes on Capitol and Penn caused by construction and garages disgorging drivers who want to cross all the lanes of traffic in half a block.
A calm low-traffic drive down Meridian, even when it means 25 mph (15 on the Circle) and stopping for the many pedestrians and scooters out in good weather, is a vastly preferable commute over the one-way car sewers with constant lane shifts and pop-up (and semi-permanent) construction.
See, car drivers are people and taxpayers too.
I also believe that the Circle should be closed to cars year-round. There is proof of concept here throughout Europe and also in other American cities. This type of placemaking benefits communities and mitigates pedestrian/cyclist safety issues.
University Park and the American Legion Mall are both gorgeous greenspaces, and I’m eager to see the Mall activated later next month for the I Made Rock and Roll festival. It’s an exciting season downtown!
I strongly oppose this idea. Getting around downtown is hard enough and Monument Circle should be opened up for everyone to drive around it. To add alcohol is going to make things worse and inappropriate in a family environment.
Great to see this returning, with even more amenities. As someone who works nearby, it was a nice spot to get out of the office. Even if I was going somewhere else, it was always cool to see other people enjoying themselves while walking through.