White River Vision Plan unveils design concepts

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Possible designs to develop the White River in Indianapolis and Hamilton County were unveiled Thursday. 

The White River Vision Plan is an initiative led by the city of Indianapolis, Hamilton County Tourism, Visit Indy, and a number of landscape design and planning firms. 

A public input meeting held at Riverside High School, 3010 N. White River Parkway, gave a first glimpse at plans to create greater access for residents and visitors to the 58 miles of the White River, while also bolstering the community and tourism opportunities along the river and helping connect those neighborhoods, trails and attractions. 

According to Emily Mack, director of the Department of Metropolitan Development for the city of Indianapolis, the planning for potential designs began about a year ago. 

“I think people are really excited. They’re so excited to have the opportunity to really think about how we can engage and utilize the river in ways that we haven’t been able to because it hasn’t been clean. Over a century ago, we used to actually have ordinances that required you to dump in the river,” Mack said.

The White River will be much cleaner by 2025, Mack said, because of environmental protections put into place and the efforts of Citizens Energy’s DigIndy Tunnel System, which is designed to store raw sewage and prevent sewer overflows into local waterways.

“For the first time in almost a century, we really have the opportunity to literally tip our toes in the water and engage with the river in ways that we as a community have never been able to before,” Mack said.

Two meetings about the plan that were originally scheduled for Jan. 30 will be held Feb. 13 at noon and at 6 p.m. with locations pending, according to a spokesperson for the plan. 

To learn more about the plan, see the full presentation or take the map-based survey, click here