Proposal 175 would add a Professional Sports Development Area downtown to help fund the mayor’s stadium plans instead of the originally approved Eleven Park site.
INDIANAPOLIS — The mayor’s plan to build a soccer-specific stadium downtown is quickly gaining the approval of the City-County Council.
But not without pushback from Indy Eleven supporters and some councilors.
The two conflicting sides filled almost every seat at Tuesday’s Rules and Public Policy Committee meeting. The issue on the table was Proposal 175.
The proposal would add a Professional Sports Development Area downtown to help fund the mayor’s stadium plans instead of the originally approved Eleven Park site.
Indianapolis Deputy Mayor Dan Parker said the plan is the best option to woo a Major League Soccer team and protect taxpayers.
“We acknowledge that this has been an uncomfortable process, but it has been one that has been on a fast track to do what is best for all the residents of the city of Indianapolis,” Parker said.
Indy Eleven fans disagree. Several came to the meeting with shirts that read, “Build Eleven Park.”
“My membership expected answers tonight and we got nothing,” said David Ziemba, president of the Brickyard Battalion. “I think the most common answer Mr. Parker and the staff gave was that in legalese this is a condition precedent situation, which is you have to pass the map and then the answers are going to come … maybe.”
Others said they’re alarmed by the number of remaining graves at the Eleven Park site being built on top of the former Greenlawn Cemetery.
A site the city offered to buy from Keystone Group last week.
“I don’t care if you build that stadium at the Heliport or if you build it at Greenlawn Cemetery, but you need to move the people out,” said Leon Bates, a local historian. “It is time to do better.”
“I’m concerned. I’m very concerned about what we are doing to people again and harming them again,” said Councilor Ali Brown.
After nearly three hours of public comments and questions, the committee voted 6-4 in favor of the proposal.
Minority Leader Brian Mowery was one of the councilors to vote no, saying he is concerned about the message it sends to the business community.
“What we heard tonight is things have changed. Then we heard Deputy Mayor Judith Thomas come up and say things haven’t changed, it still remains the same. So, I don’t know which one it is at this point,” Mowery said.
The city also made it clear that even if this proposal fails, they won’t send the Eleven Park proposal to the state budget committee — essentially ending an MLS bid.
Council President Vop Osili, who is sponsoring the proposal, said he feels confident about Monday’s vote.
“This city wants to have an MLS team and the city could benefit from that, but it was also clear tonight how important it is that we work as hard as we can to make something great come from the Diamond Chain site,” Osili said.
If the council approves the proposal, it will return to the Metropolitan Development Commission for another vote before being sent to the state by June 30. The state’s budget committee will then review and approve it.
Statement from Mayor Joe Hogsett:
“Tonight, our community engaged in a robust conversation on the future of soccer in Indianapolis and emerged one step closer to pursuing the vision to bring a Major League Soccer expansion club to our city.
I want to thank the passionate residents who shared their perspectives tonight, as well as the members of the City-County Council’s Rules and Public Policy Committee for supporting Proposal 175 in a bipartisan way, showing that they believe in the potential to solidify our status as the greatest sports city in the country. As this process moves forward, I look forward to continuing the conversations with City-County Councilors, state leaders, and members of our community as we work together – in the Indianapolis way.”
Statement from Keystone Group:
“We are heartened by the compelling support Indy Eleven and Eleven Park received this evening and continues to receive. Tonight’s meeting showed a troubling lack of details from city officials as to the why and how of their decision making, and it is our hope that the full Council will stand up for their constituents and taxpayers and demand transparency as Indianapolis prepares to walk away from its commitments to near Westside neighborhoods.”
