Indiana Preservationist 1987

              lit on your dancin' shoes
for Historic Landmarks'
1987 annual meeting
Historic Landmarks' members who
were unable to attend our prom on the
mid-November gala opening weekend
of the Indiana Roof Ballroom will have
another opportunity to visit the legendary dancehall for a'Tandmark"
occasion. The fanciful Spanish village
atop the historic Indiana Theatre in
Indianapolis will hostour Annual Meeting and Membership Dinner on Friday
April 24.
Dancing is a must at the Indiana
Roof, so our traditional agenda will
be expanded to include a live band.
Following cocktails, dinner, business
meeting and presentation of the 12th
Annual Servaas Awards, the Big Band
sounds of the Roof's heyday wi 11 urge
members and their guests to try out a
dance floor so smooth it makes Astaires
and Rogers of us all.
Built in 1927 after the design of
Indianapolis architects Rubush and
Hunter, the Indiana Theatre was an
elaborately decorated movie palace.
The Indiana Repertory Theatre renovated the building in the 1970s and
continues to make its home there. The
Indiana Roof on the building's top floor
was designed to resemble a Spanish village under a night sky, having taken its
inspiration from'ln a Little Spanish
Town/' a popular Paul Whiteman tune
of 1926. The Indiana Roof had been
closed for more than a decade until last
fall, when it re-opened following a $6.1
million restoration by Melvin Simon &
Associates, Inc.
If you're a member of H istoric
Landmarks, you should soon receive
your annual meeting announcement.
If you're not a member and have questions about the Foundation or the
annual meeting, please call Maribeth
Bailey, Membership and Development
Administrator, at (317) 926-2301.
Dance to the music of "Street Life" on
April 24 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom.
(CSO Architects)
pecial notice to
members of Historic
Landmarks Foundation
ctors of Historic Landmarks
ndation of Indiana are elected for a
three-year term. One-third of the members of the Board are elected annually.
The election is held at the annual meet-
f the membership, and each mem-
s entitled to vote. The 1987 Annual
eting and Membership Dinner will
be held on Friday evening, April 24,
at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in
» Indianapolis.
According to Historic Landmarks'
by-laws, members may vote only for
candidates who have been nominated
by the Nominating Committee of the
Board of Directors, or by at least ten
voting members. A nomination of a
candidate for election to the Board of
Directors, whether made by the Nominating Committee or by the members,
must be submitted in writing to Mrs.
Kathryn G. Betley, Chairman of the
Board, at the principal office of Historic
Landmarks at least ten days in advance
of the annual meeting.
ampaign to preserve
historic City Market
gains momentum
An adhoc group in Indianapolis calling
itself the Coal ition to Save Vital City
Spaces has banded together to oppose a
developer's proposal to build a 10-
story office building on the West Plaza
of the historic City Market. The Coalition has launched a petition drive that
seeks to force the city's Metropolitan
Development Commission to
invalidate its earlier approval of the
plan submitted by Cornerstone Companies, Inc. The group believes that the
proposal process should start from
scratch with clearer evaluative guidelines.
Spearheaded by representatives of
Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, the Indianapolis Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects, and
the Indiana Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects, the Coalition
also includes downtown neighborhood
associations, residents and City Market
standholders who oppose the proposal. "After listening to Cornerstone's
representatives on more than one occasion," notes Historic Landmarks President Reid Williamson/I'm convinced
thatthis plan involves bad aesthetics,
bad economics and bad management."
In his 1821 plan forthe city of Indianapolis, Alexander Ralston reserved
the block occupied by the City Market
for public market space. The present
City Market was built in 1886 after a
design by D. A. Bohlen, architect of
many of the city's outstanding extant
buildings. Lilly Endowment contributed $4.7 million to a 1976 renovation of the market, during which the
east and west wings and plazas were
built according to a design that complements and enhances the original
market building.
The west plaza, one of the few people-oriented open spaces in the downtown area, is an immensely popular
lunchtime destination for workers and
visitors in three of the four seasons,
while atriums in the city's newer buildings remain largely deserted the year
round. In addition to eliminating the
plaza, a 10-story building on the site
would be aesthetically incompatible
with the more intimate scale of the historic City Market.
In addition to its stand against the
elimination of the popular west plaza,
the Coalition to Save Vital City Spaces
also deplores the proposal to turn the
historic market building into a food
court. The Coalition further points to
the developer's lack of provisions for
parking. The latter issue has been identified by both standholders and Market
users as a serious drawback to patronage of the City Market. In spite of these
inadequacies, the Metropolitan Development Commission, in December
conditionally approved the Cornerstone proposal.
The Coalition is lobbying for
denial of the current proposal. In its
place, the Coalition suggests a plan to
retain the plazas in their entirety and to
revitalize the City Market as a fresh-
food market by contracti ng with experienced and authoritative private management.
"We don't want to lose one inch of
our plaza," says Libby Fogle, whose
family has operated a stand in the City
Market for the past 58 years."And we
want to continue to be a unique downtown attraction."
For more information on the plans
and objectives of the Coal ition to Save
Vital City Spaces, or to volunteer your
help in this campaign, call Historic
Landmarks' headquarters at 926-2301.
w
HISTORIC
LANDMARKS
FOUNDATION OF
INDLANLA
#2, March 1987
The Coalition to Save Vital City Spaces proposes the retention of the plazas
and the revitalization of the City Market as a fresh-food market, its original
and historic identity but one which has been lost due to poor management for
more than a decade. Call Historic Landmarks (317-926-2301) to register your
support for the Coalition's stand.
ope you like the new
look
This issue introduces a new
appearance for The Indiana Preservationist. Historic Landmarks believes in
the importance of good design in publications as well as architecture and
planning, and we realized that The
Indiana Preservationist needed the
attention of a professional graphic
designer to undertake the renovation.
Dawn Keller of Keller-Doll Design,
Inc., is responsible forthe new look;
the calIigraphy is the work of Barbara
Berger.
The Indiana Preservationist will
continue to accept advertising, from
full-page ads to real estate listings and
25-word "Heritage Classifieds." New
sizes and rates corresponding to the
new design are available from Linda
Westfall orTina Connor at317-926-
2301.
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