Indianapolis Cultural Trail just got a mile longer.
The first phase of a two-mile, $30 million extension of the trail opened to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday. It connects portions of the original six-mile Cultural Trail to historic Indiana Avenue neighborhoods, the future 16 Tech bridge, and the hospital and university campuses on the west side of downtown.
The trail includes the Indiana Avenue Sound Experience, an art installation highlighting music and musicians that have roots on Indiana Avenue and have influenced music worldwide. It’s the first Cultural Trail art installation to incorporate sound, and will first feature music from Lamp Records, a record label founded by Herb Miller in the late 1960s from a record store Miller owned in the neighborhood around Indiana Avenue.
An additional mile segment along South Street is slated to open later this year.
The one-mile path runs alongside the Madam Walker Legacy Center, which the Cultural Trail partnered with to create a decorative plaza and a “Walk of Fame” highlighting individuals in the Indiana Avenue community and musicians who have played at the theater. It will also provide a connection to the Fall Creek and White River Wapahani greenways.
Funding from Lilly Endowment, Elevance Health Foundation, Lilly Foundation and the city added up to $28.5 million for the first expansion. The cultural trail is seeking contributions to cover the remaining $1.5 million.
An additional one-mile expansion will cross the White River as part of the planned Henry Street Bridge south of Washington Street. That project is expected to cost $21.2 million. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. will contribute $18.2 million and the city plans to contribute $3 million.
Indianapolis-based Rundell Ernstberger Associates designed the trail expansion.
When the two expansions are complete, the trail will total nine miles.
This segment includes 170,000 decorative pavers, 23 stormwater planters, 8,950 perennials and shrubs, 78 trees, new benches and bike racks.
Officially named the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick, the path opened in 2013 as a way to connect cultural districts Mass Ave, Indiana Avenue, the Central Canal, White River State Park, the Wholesale District and Fountain Square.
The trail made a loop around downtown and covered six miles with a development price tag of $63 million. Federal grants, local businesses and philanthropic sources provided the funding.
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