Downtown Indianapolis is back. We need the economic enhancement district.
As neighbors and stakeholders on Monument Circle, we share with you what we are seeing on a daily basis: Downtown Indianapolis is coming back stronger than ever.
There’s a palpable energy on our sidewalks at lunchtime as workers return to offices and workplaces. Our restaurants are bustling not only with convention visitors, but also with locals. Guests from near and far are attending live events downtown, including arts performances, worship services, professional sports, and more. Hospitality and safety ambassadors and cleaning teams are making regular rounds and know many of us by first name. The renewal we’re experiencing downtown is making us a standout leader among our Midwestern peer cities.
A recent economic report notes that Indianapolis saw an 8.4% increase in our GDP last year; Marion County alone was responsible for 25% of the state of Indiana’s GDP growth in 2023. Both of our organizations, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, are experiencing the positive effects of this vitality. Overall concert attendance at the ISO is up: our recent Yuletide Celebration broke sales records in December, and we are welcoming significant new audiences of younger people through our Uncharted Series, which mixes the classical with the modern. The congregation of CCC similarly experienced a 20% increase in our average attendance last year.
All this good news and upward trajectory is because we, our civic and community leaders, have come together with intention and purpose since 2020 to propel our city forward. Last November, a broad, deep, and diverse group of downtown residents, business owners, and nonprofits petitioned the City-County Council to enact an economic enhancement district for the Mile Square using a law enacted by the Indiana General Assembly in 2023.
This district will continue our efforts to enhance cleanliness and beautification efforts, fund operational costs for a low-barrier homeless shelter and housing hub to help people experiencing homelessness connect with resources and housing solutions and hire more safety ambassadors. Moreover, the City-County Council held a public hearing on the economic enhancement district, and support at that hearing was overwhelmingly positive, which led to its passage last December.
We are deeply concerned that the Indiana General Assembly is now considering taking away this opportunity to help us, the residents and stakeholders of the Mile Square, help ourselves. We want to do the right thing by continuing to make the downtown experience clean, safe, and welcoming for both our symphony patrons and church congregants, not to mention the many out-of-town visitors and Indy locals who are coming downtown to shop, eat, play, worship, and enjoy the performing arts.
We are committed to helping our unhoused neighbors connect with a 24/7, no-questions-asked, shelter that offers them safety and the ability to connect with resources that lead to permanent supportive housing. This goal is a critical component of our vision for a vibrant and thriving downtown.
We are puzzled by and disappointed that out-of-state special interest groups, which have no stake in the welfare of our neighborhood, city, or state, are the leading voice in seeking to rescind this opportunity that the legislature offered to us less than a year ago. We invite our legislators considering the repeal of this economic enhancement district to come spend an afternoon with us.
Let us walk you around Monument Circle and the Mile Square neighborhoods. Let us introduce you to our fantastic safety ambassadors. Let us show you how we are on the upswing and can continue to thrive, care for all our downtown neighbors, and propel economic growth throughout our city and state through an enhancement district. We promise that you will, like us, be convinced that the key to a strong and vibrant Indiana starts with a strong and vibrant capital city, whose heartbeat emanates from Monument Circle and the Mile Square.
James Johnson is the CEO of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Very Reverend Gray Lesesne is Dean of Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why the economic enhancement district is needed for downtown Indy
