Lilly Endowment grants $80 million for 42 Indy parks. Here's where the money is going.

Lilly Endowment announced Tuesday $80 million in grants toward improvements across the Indy Parks system, which will benefit 42 parks in all nine townships with an array of enhancements such as playground upgrades, pickleball courts, splash pads and an expanded skate park.

The grant − almost 14 times the 2023 capital improvements budget for Indy Parks − is the largest philanthropic donation ever made to Indy Parks, according to Mayor Joe Hogsett.

“Lilly Endowment is delighted to add this funding to its long history of support for major capital upgrades to our city’s impressive array of public parks,” Lilly Endowment President Jennett Hill said in a news release. “Parks and greenspaces are essential elements of healthy and appealing communities.

Lilly Endowment is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation supported by gifts of stock made by the family that founded Eli Lilly and Company. It is a separate entity from the pharmaceutical giant.

City-Council President Vop Osili said at a press conference Tuesday at Washington Park that the grants were a visionary act of generosity on an order of magnitude the city doesn't often get to consider. Parks are of vital importance to a community's civic health, he said.

"There was a time not long ago when much of society viewed public parks as nice but not necessary, as purposes but not prerequisites of a healthy community," he said. "Those days and that view are fading fast."

Some benefits of parks include decreased crime and better health outcomes from increased exercise, Osili said.

Hogsett said that there was a growing need for the Indianapolis parks department to receive more investment, and the Lilly Endowment expressed an interest in helping.

"To their credit, the endowment said think big, because if you can convince us of the efficacy of an investment, we will think creatively with you and be serious about making an investment, he said.

Indy Parks director Phyllis Boyd said conversations with Lilly Endowment began last year, just as Indy Parks was grappling with how to fund a prioritized list of needed investment in all of the city's 214 parks.

"We had projects prioritized based on the condition of existing equipment, but also were those parks located in communities that haven't had investment in public spaces," Boyd said.

Indy Parks sought input from local residents through surveys, stakeholder groups and community meetings to determine what improvements and enhancements they wanted to see in their neighborhood parks. Parks were prioritized based on geographic diversity, visitation rates, park conditions and race, income and other demographics of the surrounding neighborhoods, according to Boyd.

Designing and constructing the park projects funded by this grant will take until 2025.

The Lilly Endowment investment joins recent city investments in Indy Parks, including $45 million through the Circle City Forward Initiative announced in February 2021.

Here is the full project list of parks that will benefit from the $80 million in grants.

• Al Polin Park in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood: About $600,000 will go toward a basketball court upgrade, walkway improvements, playground replacements, and beautification.

• Chapel Hill at 900 Girls School Rd: $2 million will help replace the playground, upgrade the basketball court and baseball diamond, and add pickleball courts, a comfort station and a splash pad.

• Dubarry Park on the east side at 3698 Dubarry Rd: $700,000 will go to a new splash pad.

• Eagle Creek Park: The largest park in the Indy Parks system will receive $2.6 million to support accessibility upgrades for the Pin Oak Trail near the Earth Discovery Center, additional community program engagement, and the development of a documentary about the park’s history.

• Franklin Township Community Park next to Franklin Central High School: $2.85 million in Lilly Endowment funding will support construction of a new playground, shelter, hard courts, and the paving of the existing nature trail.

• Frederick Douglass Park in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood at Andrew J. Brown and E. 25th Street: $5.268 million will support construction of a new playground, multi-use synthetic sports fields, and office furnishings and appliances.

• Garfield Park at Pagoda Drive and East Pleasant Run Parkway Drive North: The city’s oldest park will get $5.5 million to improve the Pagoda playgrounds, and Sunken Garden fountains.

• Geisse Soccer Park at Eagle Creek Park will receive $2.458 million for improvements to the park’s drainage system, pavilion shelter, and comfort stations to accommodate expanded programming.

• Graham Edward Martin Park near Fall Creek Parkway East Drive and W. 16th Street: $1.86 million will go toward construction of a splash pad, a shelter, two parking lots, pickleball courts, a comfort station, and improvements to the sports fields near Crispus Attucks High School.

• Grassy Creek Regional Park at the intersection of E. 30th Street and N. German Church Road: $5.65 million will go to construct new playgrounds and park trails and provide furnishings and appliances for a new environmental center.

• Gustafson Park at 3010 Moller Road: Planned improvements include a new digital scoreboard, comfort station, playground, and basketball courts. $1.6 million will help upgrade the existing football field to a synthetic multi-purpose field.

• Holliday Park at Spring Mill Road and West 64th Street: $1.5 million of City-secured funding and $3 million in Lilly Endowment funding will go to playground and signage improvements, walkway upgrades, and gazebo maintenance.

• Krannert Park adjacent to Interstate 465 between Rockville Road and W. Washington Street: $3.73 million will upgrade the playground, trails, and basketball court.

• Kuntz Sports Complex at 1502 W. 16th St: $2.75 million will help convert the practice field from natural turf to synthetic turf, improve the grade and irrigation of the main field, and install new LED stadium lighting at both fields.

• Major Taylor Skate Park, part of the Indy Cycloplex at 3649 Cold Spring Rd: $750,000 in Lilly Endowment funding will help expand the skate park and add LED sports lighting to extend operational hours.

• Perry Park on the city’s south side: $1.3 million will go to a new playground and shelter.

• Riverside Regional Park along the White River on the city’s near west side: $11.55 million for new sidewalks and nature trails, enhancements along White River, upgrades to the soap box derby track and development of the Taggart Memorial Playground.

• Sahm Park at 6801 E. 91st St: $2.7 million will help renovate the tennis pavilion, add additional shelters and walkways, improve parking, and replace the playground (built in 1996), which will feature adult exterior fitness equipment.

• Southside Park in the University Heights and Rosedale Hills neighborhoods: $2 million will help install new playground, adult fitness equipment, a sports field, hardcourts, and a shelter.

• Southwestway Park at West Southport Road and Mann Road: $1.25 million will go toward construction of a comfort station, a shelter, an expanded parking lot and a playground with adult fitness equipment.

• Tarkington Park near W. 39th and N. Meridian streets: $3 million will help complete phase two of the park’s master plan by adding circular walkways, additional shelters, a farmers market pavilion, and field improvements to better serve youth football leagues.

• Tolin Akeman Park at 4459 Shelbyville Rd: $1.27 million will go towards upgrading a playground, and adding a shelter, basketball court, pickleball courts, and a walking trail.

• Washington Park on the city’s near east side: $3.5 million will help replace the central playground (built in 1995) and add a new splash pad, shelter, parking lot, and comfort station.

• World Sports Park at 1313 S. Post Rd: $2.15 million will go towards a new concession pavilion with restrooms and a paved parking lot.

• Playgrounds in 18 small parks across the city will be upgraded with $8.38 million to feature rubberized or synthetic turf play surfaces, accessible walkways and shade structures. The parks are located in some of the most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Indianapolis, according to the city.

• $80,000 will support park-based programming.

• $1.5 million will be reserved for a contingency fund to offset cost increases and unpredictable supply chain delays.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy Parks: Lilly Endowment grants $80 million for park improvements