Officials hear more calls for deeper look into possible Black graves at bridge project

A conceptual design of the proposed Henry Street bridge spanning the White River, called "Circle City Gateway." (Image courtesy of Indianapolis Department of Public Works)

A few dozen attendees to an Indianapolis Department of Public Works meeting Tuesday joined the call of historians in asking the city to perform a full archaeological excavation of bodies that might lie in the site for the planned Henry Street bridge project.

The meeting was initially slated to focus primarily on the preferred design choice for the bridge, after two potential designs were presented in July. But in recent weeks, city officials have been made more aware about the concerns over the history of the planned bridge location.

The Henry Street bridge is a key part of a deal that will bring Elanco’s $150 million corporate headquarters to the site of the former General Motors stamping plant near White River State Park. When complete, the bridge will connect the future home of Elanco and the proposed Eleven Park project to downtown Indianapolis, along with The Valley neighborhood.

On the east side of the White River, plans call for Henry Street to be extended to the river through an area north of Kentucky Avenue that was once home to a portion of Greenlawn Cemetery, also known as the City Cemetery and Union Cemetery. The remains of the thousands of people who were buried at the cemetery from the early 1800s to the late 1800s, including 1,300 Union soldiers and 1,600 Confederate soldiers, were eventually moved to Crown Hill Cemetery and other burial grounds.

But some historians believe the remains of many early African American residents—possibly thousands—were never moved.

At Tuesday’s meeting, historians, concerned residents and a group dedicated to recognizing historic racial injustice attended the meeting to call for a full archaeological excavation of the development site instead of the city’s current plan to begin construction and excavate remains if they are found.

Officials gave a presentation on the preferred design and plans for the bridge, along with the archaeological plan, and set up stations in the back of the room where attendees could ask questions of DPW staff.

Jeannie Regan-Dinius, the director of historic preservation at Crown Hill Cemetery, expressed concern that digging during construction would not go deep enough to uncover any burial sites. Additional soil has been added to the property over the years, likely leaving any remains too deeply buried to be found during the planned construction process, she said.

“You’re not going to find those human remains,” Regan-Dinius told Linda Weintraut, a consultant on the project. “So we’re just going to drive over it, and that’s just OK?”

The archaeological breakout group, led by Weintraut, became surrounded by about a dozen people who asked for a public comment period in which responses from officials could be heard by all. In response, Deputy Mayor Judith Thomas said the format would be changed and moved the crowd to the microphone.

“We did not set it up so you couldn’t ask questions,” Thomas told the crowd. “That’s why we’re here, to bring you full transparency.”

Several attendees who called for a thorough excavation process prior to the construction were members of the Indiana Remembrance Coalition. About 20 people attended the meeting due to the coalition’s call to action, one member estimated.

The Indiana Remembrance Coalition is an all-volunteer group that seeks to remember and acknowledge past and present racial violence and foster meaningful dialogue about race and justice. Last year, the group made national news by successfully lobbying to have the death certificate of a lynching victim changed to represent that his death was a murder, not a suicide.

“If we know there’s a high probability of finding human remains on the small portion of the area, 10 percent, why would we not proactively began with excavating that area and finding out what we need to do, instead of just reacting?” a woman asked.

“That is the question for this hearing,” Thomas said. “Obviously there are experts that are working on this. This is a city project, the Henry Street Bridge specifically within that area, and this [feedback] is something we will take back and look at.”

Weintraut, an outside consultant on the project, has said it is possible that the city would find no bodies at the site. But Leon Bates, a Black local historian, said research shows that a four-acre area of the cemetery that was devoted to African Americans could have as many as 1,000 bodies per acre.

Though details are not set, city officials plan to create a citizen advisory board for the project. Thomas said it was possible that some of the meeting attendees could be part of the oversight.

“We will take back exactly what you guys have given us, this feedback, to the team and make some decisions,” Thomas said. “All of this is uncomfortable and challenging. I wish we didn’t have to deal with this at all, to be honest with you.”

Thomas, who is Black, said she’s passionate about Black history and wants to see the history of the site preserved no matter what the excavation process looks like.

Bridge design

At the meeting, representatives from Indianapolis-based Meticulous Design and Architecture and Lawrence-based Context Design presented the preferred design for the bridge, dubbed “Circle City Gateway.”

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail will extend across the bridge, a move that makes the bridge itself 60% pedestrian focused, with two lanes of road taking up the remaining 40%. The design features six circular structures, which a speaker said would be fitted with colored lights that could be changed for special occasions.

The presentation was met with applause and most attendees appeared to have no objections to the bridge design.

The bridge is slated to be completed no sooner than March 2026.