Here’s how Butler, Marian will spend Lilly grants
(MIRROR INDY) — Butler University and Marian University received a combined $47.5 million in grants from the Lilly Endowment to fund projects in Indianapolis’ midtown and westside communities.
Butler and Marian were the only two Indianapolis schools of 13 Indiana colleges and universities to receive grants from the endowment.
Butler’s $22.5-million grant will support construction of a new 42,000-square-foot wellness center for sports and youth programming at the Martin Luther King Center. The grant will also go toward construction of a new safety and transit hub on Butler’s campus.
Plans include enhancements to shelter and playground equipment at nearby Tarkington Park and working with the Indiana Native Plant Society to create sustainable landscapes in Butler’s Holcomb Gardens and around campus. The grant money will also fund a director of campus and community development to continue bridging relations between Butler and surrounding neighborhoods, according to a news release from the university.
Butler’s $22.5-million grant will support construction of a new 42,000-square-foot wellness center for sports and youth programming at the Martin Luther King Center. The grant will also go toward construction of a new safety and transit hub on Butler’s campus.
Plans include enhancements to shelter and playground equipment at nearby Tarkington Park and working with the Indiana Native Plant Society to create sustainable landscapes in Butler’s Holcomb Gardens and around campus. The grant money will also fund a director of campus and community development to continue bridging relations between Butler and surrounding neighborhoods, according to a news release from the university.
Marian University received $25 million to create a new education and innovation district on the site of the former LaRue Carter hospital campus on the west side. The new hub will be called the Riverside Education Innovation District and located on Cold Spring Road just down the road from Marian’s main campus.
Marian University plans to renovate some of the buildings located on the former hospital campus, which officially shuttered in 2019 after a new state psychiatric hospital opened on the east side.
The state issued a request for information for redevelopment of the LaRue Carter hospital site in 2021.
As part of the project, Marian will move some of its educational programs and offices, as well as some Indianapolis-based youth-serving and education nonprofits, to the former hospital site.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on social media @clairerafford.