INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The City of Indianapolis will fund an archeologist-led excavation of the Henry Street Bridge site on the east side of the White River.

This construction site is on part of the former Greenlawn Cemetery and is likely still home to human remains.

The original plan was to do a contractor-led excavation which would have involved reintering anyone that was found, but there would not be a specific effort to find bodies on the site.

This archeologist-led excavation will allow experts to thoroughly search for the human remains before construction begins on the east side of the river.

This change came after community leaders spoke up and asked the city to do more to look for those who may remain on the site.

The Henry Street Bridge project site only takes up a small portion of the four parts of Greenlawn Cemetery, and it will be the only portion of the site to undergo a city-funded archeologist-led excavation.

Keystone Development Group privately owns the land north of the project site. Construction crews have already found human remains on that site as they have demolished the old Diamond Chain building.

The area south of the bridge already has buildings on it and will be left untouched.

City officials had to divert a significant portion of the original project budget to the archeology project, so the Lilly Endowment donated $15 million to cover the gap in funding.

The Indianapolis Department of Public Works shared a press release Monday that said, “The Indianapolis Department of Public Works announced it has received a $15 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help fund architecturally significant design elements and enhancements to the future Henry Street Bridge.”

“That money is new money to the project and was not originally anticipated,” said Brandon Herget, the Indianapolis DPW Director. “The money that’s been allocated, we’ve determined, a significant portion, we need to set aside to do archeology the right way and the way the community has called for.”

Local experts told News 8 that building on top of this cemetery was legal at the time but it was never morally right.

“Everything that happened on that site from the railroad to the meatpacking to Diamond Chain’s construction was all legal at the time because society has just changed their values and view on construction on top of cemeteries,” said Jeannie Regan-Dinius, the Crown Hill Foundation Director of Historic Preservation.

Regan-Dinius said the changes in cemetery law are recent relative to the age and history of the site.

“The problem is that with Diamond Chain being built that was in the early 1900s and there weren’t laws either at the city or the state level to protect the site,” Regan-Dinius said. “And so some of the construction laws we have against not building on top of cemeteries weren’t passed until 2000.”

Construction on the west side of the bridge will begin while archeologists do their work on the east side of the river. Only once those experts give the all-clear will construction crews start on the east side.

This project will further connect the east and west sides of the White River and expand the Cultural Trail to the city’s west side.

“This is incredibly important for connectivity to neighborhoods on the west side of downtown that need that connectivity, that have asked for that connectivity,” Herget said. “This is important because it’s fulfilling the commitments that we’ve made to Elanco and the IEDC as it relates to redeveloping the GM stamping plant site but most importantly tonight what’s important is following through on commitments we’ve made to the community advisory group.”

Experts are unsure just how many remains could be found on the Henry Street site and were hesitant to give the crowd a number.

Local historian Leon Bates previously told News 8 that he estimates there could be around 2,000 African Americans on the site as a whole.

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The Indianapolis Department of Public Works shared the following press release regarding the additional funding on Monday.

INDIANAPOLIS – On Monday, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works announced it has received a $15 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help fund architecturally significant design elements and enhancements to the future Henry Street Bridge. 

The announcement was made ahead of a community meeting regarding the Henry Street Bridge and adjacent projects, which include new roadways on each side of the White River. The meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. tonight at Edison School of the Arts, Inc. 47 (777 S. White River Parkway Dr. W.). 

The construction of the Henry Street Bridge originates from an agreement between the city, the state and Elanco that calls for the city to build out the infrastructure supporting the animal health company’s new global headquarters on the west side of the White River.  

In March, Lilly Endowment approved a $15 million grant to enable the construction of the Henry Street Bridge to include the Circle City Gateway design that was presented to the public in May 2023 following an extensive public input process. The design includes architecturally significant elements such as 80-foot rings with programmable lighting that encircle the bridge, plazas that provide spaces for people to gather and view public art, and distinctive plantings and other horticultural features. 

“Earlier this year, Lilly Endowment was informed that the city no longer had sufficient funding to build the version of the Henry Street Bridge that had been presented to the public,” said Ronni Kloth, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for community development. “Given the historic expansion and redevelopment of the southwest quadrant of downtown Indianapolis, we at Lilly Endowment were compelled to help ensure that the bridge is constructed in a manner that distinguishes Indianapolis’ skyline and serves as a cultural amenity to benefit broad and diverse audiences.”  

For more than a year, city officials have been meeting with community members regarding the Henry Street Bridge and an adjacent roadway project, which occupies a one-acre portion of the city’s first cemetery, a collection of four long-abandoned cemeteries that are often referred to collectively as Greenlawn Cemetery. Despite 100+ years of previous development on the site, many gravesites are believed to be buried under concrete and additional soil that was imported for previous development projects.  

“Earlier this year, a consortium of community stakeholders, including the city, approached Lilly Endowment to seek funding that would enable the city to preserve the enhanced, architecturally significant plan for the bridge without sacrificing thorough archaeology of the site,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett. “We are grateful for Lilly Endowment’s support, which is specifically and exclusively for the enhanced design of the Henry Street Bridge.”  

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick will also expand as part of the construction of the Henry Street Bridge and other adjacent developments, connecting The Valley and near Westside to downtown and improving access to the cultural and recreational attractions within White River State Park. 

“This new bridge is the only place the Cultural Trail crosses the White River and we want to provide a place for people to engage with and experience the river in a beautiful and accessible setting on the Trail,” said Kären Haley, executive director for Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Inc. “The architecturally significant bridge will help make the White River expansion of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail a destination in itself and we thank Lilly Endowment for making this possible.” 

Indianapolis Department of Public Works Press Release 6/24/2024

Previous coverage of Greenlawn Cemetery

• Have research into Greenlawn Cemetery? The city wants to hear from you.
• Human remains at Eleven Park: What we know from public records
• Fate of human remains at center of soccer stadium fight
• Some Indy Eleven fans want human remains removed from Eleven Park
• Human remains found at Indy Eleven construction site
• Local advocates concerned site of Indy soccer stadium could have human remains
• Indianapolis announces expansion of Cultural Trail