From the Desk of the Chancellor, August 8, 2011

Chancellor Charles R. Bantz View print-quality image

What’s happening all along Blackford Street beside the Gateway Garage, Science Building, and Eskenazi Hall? It’s the West Corridor of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick, the award-winning urban bike and pedestrian path that serves as the downtown hub for the entire central Indiana greenway system. The west leg of the trail that is being constructed through campus will run from Indiana Avenue at the Indianapolis Urban League building south along Blackford to Washington and West Streets and the White River State Park.

This past Saturday, the first annual Naptown Urban Crawl took place, which featured the Mass Avenue district of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and the pubs, restaurants, shops, galleries, theatres, and other entertainment establishments that line the trail’s path. Each year, the Naptown Urban Crawl will feature a different district. The five downtown cultural districts that will eventually all be connected by the Indianapolis Cultural Trail are Fountain Square, Indiana Avenue, Mass Ave, The Canal & White River State Park, and the Wholesale District. The Cultural Trail will also connect with the Monon Trail, allowing visitors easy access to Broad Ripple Village from downtown.

The completed trail, which will go past the outdoor sculpture garden of our Herron School of Art and Design, will be lined all along the way with public art, poetry, historical markers, and other features that tell the story of our city and its neighborhoods and that celebrate our arts and culture.

The Cultural Trail is made possible by a large public and private collaboration led by Central Indiana Community Foundation, the city of Indianapolis, and several not-for-profit organizations. The West Corridor that runs through campus is scheduled to be completed this fall with landscaping due to be completed in the spring.

Comments? Write chancllr@iupui.edu.