Extra–For Indianapolis Residents Only

Although the lack of a widely-read local newspaper has tended to dim recognition of the fact, Indianapolis is in the midst of a political campaign for municipal offices, including Mayor and City-County Council.

In addition to a plethora of city-wide issues, those of us who live in Indianapolis’ historic districts have special concerns, and an upcoming forum is intended to address those. The HUNI (Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indiana) + Indiana Landmarks Mayoral Forum on Neighborhoods is set for September 19th, at the Indiana Landmarks Center, 1201 Central Avenue.

The Forum will feature the three major candidates running for Indianapolis Mayor: Democratic incumbent Joe Hogsett, Republican Indiana Senator Jim Merritt and Libertarian Doug McNaughton.

The program will include a 15-minute opening statement from each candidate and an hour of Q&A from audience members. This free and open-to-the-public event is intended to  explore issues particularly important to those living in historic neighborhoods.

Seating at the Landmarks Center is limited and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis, so those interested should get there early.  Doors will open at 5:00 pm and the program will run from 5:30-7:15pm.

This is the third Mayoral Forum that HUNI has sponsored at Indiana Landmarks.

Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis (HUNI) is a coalition of over 25 historic neighborhoods; its mission is to support the preservation, revitalization and interests of Indianapolis’ urban historic neighborhoods.

With nine offices located throughout the state, Indiana Landmarks helps people rescue endangered landmarks and restore historic neighborhoods and downtowns.

If there is one thing we have all learned from nearly 3 years of the Trump Administration, it is that who governs matters. Come listen to the candidates, and cast an informed vote in November.

5 Comments

  1. Sheila; thank you for this heads up, while I cannot attend myself I hope those on the blog will pass the information on and your friends here will support this vital issue.

    Tradition and history are as important to the growth of all cities as progress; our urban historic areas downtown are the very root system for Indianapolis. They could also be used as examples to renovate, restore and reuse outlying neighborhood areas which are deteriorating due to abandonment which was once a problem with the HUNI areas.

    “Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis (HUNI) is a coalition of over 25 historic neighborhoods; its mission is to support the preservation, revitalization and interests of Indianapolis’ urban historic neighborhoods.”

    It took the demolition of the historic English Hotel and Opera House on Monument Circle for residents to create the Historic Preservation Commission. HUNI has been established to prevent another “after the fact” realization of the importance of our urban historic neighborhoods.

    Good luck!

  2. Please be sure to make it clear to all attending that Senator Jim Merritt supported Senator Pat Miller, and voted for SB 177 in 2010 to remove protections for all IHPC districts. This was in retaliation for the emergency designation of St John’s Church (German Church) in Cumberland that was to be torn down for a gas station/convenience store.

    It required the intervention of many people to protect the historic fabric of our city that has been the root of much of the urban renewal – and Jim Merritt was on the wrong side of that.

    https://www.ibj.com/property-lines-scott-olson/16187-board-votes-to-protect-historic-german-church

    http://archive.iga.in.gov/2010/bills/PDF/Srollcal/0110.PDF.pdf

  3. When Senator Merritt was the featured guest at a Little Flower neighborhood meeting many years ago, he was arrogant, dismissive and rude.

    The issues then weren’t that much different than today – the state road funding formula short changes the city by about a third – leaving the roads here in terrible shape — and the blame landing on the Mayor instead of the state legislature – of which he was a significant part.

  4. My previous post didn’t happen – possibly because it had links:

    Senator Merritt supported Senator Miller in passing SB 177 in 2010 that would have stripped the IHPC of its authority to regulate historic districts. Virtually every historic district in Indianapolis was threatened.

    This was in retaliation for the emergency designation of Deutsche Evangelische-St Johannes Kirche in Cumberland (the German Church of German Church Rd) to save it from being torn down for a gas station / convenience store.

    There was a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to prevent this from becoming law.

    I find it amazing that Senator Merritt could even show his face at HUNI. I hope that many people remind him of the huge dis-service he’s done.

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