Interstate viewing park ‘The Idle’ vandalized; former Bush Stadium seats destroyed
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An interstate viewing park has been vandalized.
Parts of “The Idle – A Point of View” were left in shreds. The founder says he’s tired of the vandalism at the park, but he’s not giving up on what’s bringing communities together.
“Of course I’m tired of that, but I’m tired every day, but I’m still going every day and pushing forward and trying to do good things for our city,” said Thomas Battista, who founded The Idle.
The park was built around two years ago overlooking the I-65 and I-70 South Split and is adjacent to the Cultural Trail. It’s become a special place for people.
“Living in Fountain Square, I think the park is just a nice area where people can relax,” said Noah Wahl, an Indianapolis resident.
The seats are from the former Bush Stadium, once home to the Indianapolis Indians baseball team. Battista says he bought the seats from People for Urban Progress after receiving donations. Now they’ve been pulled apart and hit with spray paint.
“They’re special to Indianapolis, and it’s just sad that these kids are wrecking them. It’s just so terrible,” Battista said.
“A lot of the small, local businesses are finally starting to reopen and people are coming back to the Fountain Square area, so it’s just really unfortunate that something like this would happen and try to bring this neighborhood down,” Wahl said.
Battista says now they’re going to repair the damage.
“I just keep repairing them. I mean, I’ll do it. I do the maintenance of the park; I try to give it to the city park, but they won’t take it, so I have to do the maintenance,” Battista said.
They’re also looking at getting new seats.
“They’re going to be different. They’re not going to be the same seats that are there because they’re out of them now, but maybe I can find seats from the football team when they tore down the Hoosier Dome,” Battista said.
People can also send money to their maintenance fund through the nonprofit Southeast Neighborhood Development.
