Redevelopment, bridge work at former Greenlawn Cemetery site further delayed
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It could be quite some time before work on multiple projects can be completed at the former Greenlawn Cemetery site in downtown Indianapolis.
Nearly a year after Keystone Group announced it had discovered 87 burials while redeveloping the site, the private developer has not chosen a new location for the remains. At the same time, officials say excavation of a smaller city-owned plot at the site is progressing more slowly than expected, with archaeologists unsure of what could be found in the remaining land.
Keystone Group had initially planned a multi-use development anchored by a 20,000-seat stadium for the Indy Eleven soccer team at 402 Kentucky Ave. The property is the site of at least four historic cemeteries collectively known as Greenlawn Cemetery.
A representative for Keystone told IBJ that workers have not found additional graves since last year. However, only 6 acres of the 20-acre site have been excavated.
A breakdown in negotiations with the Hogsett administration, which is pursuing a Major League Soccer expansion club instead of supporting Indy Eleven’s soccer stadium, put Keystone’s plans in jeopardy. WXIN-TV Channel 59 reported recently that the former factory site adjacent to Lucas Oil Stadium is now being used as truck parking.
Jennifer Pavlik, senior vice president and chief of staff for Keystone Group, said the developer remains “engaged in conversations with community leaders to determine a respectful final resting place that appropriately honors the long-overlooked history of our city’s early residents.”
Reinterring discovered remains
While plans for the future redevelopment have stagnated, so, too, have plans for reinterring the remains.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources must approve all reinterment plans. In April 2024, Keystone Group submitted plans to reinter the remains at Mount Jackson Cemetery on the city’s west side. However, in May, state historical preservation leaders requested more information.
DNR spokeswoman Holly Lawson told IBJ in an email that Keystone has not communicated with the state since sending a letter seeking additional information.
Pavlik told IBJ the company is working through the DNR process as community conversations continue, and would publicly share reinterment plans once they’re finalized.
In the meantime, remains discovered by Keystone are held at the Indiana University Indianapolis Department of Anthropology, where they are “undergoing respectful analysis and documentation by experts … prior to reinterment,” according to Pavlik’s statement.
Remains and grave shafts are not the same as bodies. The number of individual bodies cannot be determined without a thorough analysis.
Leon Bates, a local historian who has been heavily involved in advocacy around the former cemetery, says the delay may be a good thing, so that remains from Greenlawn may be reinterred at the same location. The best practice when relocating remains is to reinter them all in one place, Bates said, so that families and remains of residents with other ties can stay together.
“It may be the best temporary solution,” Bates said. “Don’t rush into it, just let those remains sit there until the city gets done with their plan, and then possibly relocate all of those folks to one place.”
However, he disagrees with Keystone’s current use of the land.
“It is distressing that Keystone has chosen to park those heavy vehicles, or park any vehicle, on the old cemetery site,” he said, “and that driving across that site like that repeatedly is just going to damage what’s still there in the ground.”
Henry Street Bridge timeline also stretched
At the city’s 1.4-acre sliver of the over 20-acre historical burial ground, just about a quarter of the land has been excavated.
Contractors Stantec and Weintraut & Associates have discovered 447 grave shafts as of March 14. They anticipated finding about 650 graves on the city’s plot.
The archaeological work for the planned Henry Street Bridge was initially slated to be completed in April. However, Department of Public Works spokesman Kyle Bloyd told IBJ in an email that the archaeological work is complete only along the east bank of the White River. The department is working to establish a new timeline for the bridge project, he said.
City officials allocated $12 million toward the bridge project. The project, which includes an extension of the Cultural Trail across the White River, is expected to cost $43 million. The Lilly Endowment granted the city $15 million for elements of the bridge’s design. Other roadway improvements are being paid for by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.