INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — Some Indy Eleven fans are questioning whether it’s right to build a soccer stadium on the site of a former cemetery without first removing all the remains buried there.

Eleven Park, a $1.5-billion mixed-use development featuring a 20,000-seat soccer stadium, is planned for the site of the city’s first public cemetery. According to the archaeology monitoring plans for the developer, Indianapolis-based Keystone Group, remains will be treated as accidental discoveries and removed only when they are found.

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Commonly referred to collectively as Greenlawn Cemetery, the site is home to four former cemeteries where city residents buried their dead throughout the 19th century. By the late 1920s, however, those cemeteries had disappeared from official maps, replaced by rail yards, slaughterhouses and the Diamond Chain factory. Although many graves were relocated, it’s unclear how many, according to researchers who are looking into the site’s history.

Mike Slocum, treasurer of Brickyard Battalion who spoke on behalf himself, said he would be disappointed by anything short of a full search, documentation and proper reinterment of remains of those buried at Greenlawn.

“That’s a cop out to me,” he said. “Take care of our people. These are the people who’ve come before us. How would you want to be taken care of when you are gone?”

Jarron Burdine, a longtime fan who has held season tickets, agreed with Slocum’s sentiments. He said he’s skeptical about how the developer is handling the site.

“We’re just supposed to believe that they are doing the right thing, while they’re trying to make their money off it,” he said.

Both said they would like to see, at the very least, a memorial for those who were laid to rest there.

[Learn more about the Unknown here.]

In a previous statement to Mirror Indy, a Keystone spokesperson said the company “continues to work through the lawful process of excavation and reinterment under the advisement of our team of experts.” The spokesperson also said Keystone will gather community input on memorialization.

Ersal Ozdemir owns both the Indy Eleven and Keystone. 

Brickyard Battalion wants information

David Ziemba, president of Indy Eleven supporters group Brickyard Battalion, said his group has long been aware that Keystone was building Eleven Park on a former cemetery. But in light of recent news about failed negotiations between the city and Keystone, he wants more information about how the recovery of human remains might impact the cost of Keystone’s plans.

On April 25, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced he would file an application for a Major League Soccer expansion club for the city and pursue a special tax district to fund a soccer stadium downtown. That district would replace the one previously approved by the City-County Council for Keystone’s site and the surrounding area, throwing the future of the project into question.

Hogsett said last week the city made the decision not to move forward with Keystone because he “didn’t think it was responsible to go forward with the stadium putting the taxpayers at risk for more than was originally anticipated.” Hogsett did not mention the graveyard or possible discovery of human remains. 

“Could that explain why the mayor thinks there’s an issue with financial feasibility?” Ziemba said. “And if it’s not going to be financially feasible to respectfully remove and relocate the individuals that are located there, then I think there needs to be a very different conversation than is currently happening.”

In a meeting with reporters on April 30, Keystone officials said the cost of excavation that has occurred so far has been lower than expected. The company confirmed in December that it had uncovered human remains at the site but has not said how many were found, when they were found or what has been found since.

Conversations about the project have felt very siloed, Ziemba said, and he’d like to get everyone involved to the table for a “very frank, open and honest conversation about what’s best for everyone.”

“It feels like we have to talk to one person, close that door, walk halfway down the hallway and have another conversation,” he said. “And that’s not helping.”

Councilor remains supportive of Eleven Park

City-County Councilor Kristin Jones, a Democrat who represents the area where both Eleven Park and Hogsett’s alternative are being proposed, said she remains supportive of the Eleven Park project and is confident Keystone is following the lawful process at the site.

She cited a City-County Council meeting in November when the city took testimony on the proposal to create the initial professional sports development area to benefit Eleven Park.

The council passed the original professional sports development area measure based on expert testimony, she said. And if members of the public were concerned about costs of the project, they should have been brought up during that hearing, but they didn’t.

“The administration is testifying, we should pass this. Archaeological consultants are testifying, we should pass this. And we passed it through the council,” she said. 

Cost did come up at that meeting, however. Leon Bates, a historian and member of the community advisory group that has been researching the cemetery with the city, raised concerns that discovery of human remains could add to the cost of the project.

“If you find someone you have to stop. This causes delays. You find enough delays, and this will delay that project and cost even more,” Bates testified in November. 

According to plans filed by both the city and Keystone in accordance with state law, when remains are found, work will stop within a “suitable work radius” in consultation with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Remains will then be documented and excavated by hand before construction continues.

Jones said the company will have more to share soon about future plans.

Keystone “attended the April meeting” of the community advisory group and “expressed openness to attending additional meetings. And they are working on the development of a website to educate the community,” Jones said in an interview. “Once this, the lawful process and the scientific analysis has been completed, that will be on the website.”

The language closely mirrored a statement Keystone provided Mirror Indy last week.

“Keystone attended the April Community Advisory Group meeting and expressed openness to attending additional meetings,” the statement read in part. “We have committed to sharing any findings when the lawful process and scientific analysis has been completed … We are in development of a website to educate the community on the complex history of the former site of Diamond Chain.”

Reach Mirror Indy reporter Emily Hopkins at 317-790-5268 or emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis.