Construction began on the $102 million Indiana State Archove building in Summer 2023 near the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. Provided image
Gov. Eric Holcomb recently signed his name to the final beam needed to complete the structure of the $102 million Indiana State Archives building under construction in downtown Indianapolis.
Shortly thereafter, that beam was lifted into place and installed as part of a "topping out" ceremony for the five-story, 133,000-square foot building that will replace a dilapidated warehouse on the east side of the capital city that currently houses Indiana's official records and many of its treasures.
Much work remains to be done to finish the exterior and fit out the interior of the State Archives building going up along Indianapolis' Central Canal, a block away from the Indiana Statehouse and across the street from the Indiana State Library.
When it's finished, in late 2025 or early 2026, the new facility will have office space for state archives workers, areas for processing and imaging state records using the latest technology, climate controlled storage, flexible space for meetings and events, and an underground tunnel connecting it to the rest of the state government campus.
"Once completed, the new facility will help ensure the Indiana Archives has the adequate space they need to complete their agency mission. The building will also establish a safer environment for the archival records, and also make those records much easier to access for visitors," said Matt Kent, chief financial officer at the Indiana Department of Administration, ahead of last summer's archives groundbreaking.
The authorization for a new state archives building was included in the 2021 Indiana budget. An appropriation to cash-fund its construction was contained in House Enrolled Act 1001 (2023), approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and enacted by Holcomb.
The most recent call for a state-of-the-art archives facility was issued in 2015 by Republican Gov. Mike Pence, who included the then-$25 million building in a $53.5 million package of largely unrealized projects intended to commemorate the bicentennial of Indiana's 1816 admission as a state.
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