Construction of a football stadium in Indianapolis took an unexpected turn when human remains were discovered at the site.
The Indy Eleven, a team in the USL Championship – the second tier in the United States – planned to build its new $1.5 billion home on a five-acre site in downtown Indianapolis.
However, the owners’ plans hit a snag when the construction company, Keystone Group, unearthed 87 cases of human remains at the site earlier this month.
The site was most recently home to the Diamond Chain Co., which operated on the property for more than a century before it was closed and demolished last year.
However, part of the property had previously served as part of the historic Greenlawn Cemetery – the city’s first public cemetery that opened in 1821.
The construction of a football stadium in Indianapolis took an unexpected turn last week
Following the discoveries, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett offered to purchase the property from Keystone Group – just two months after negotiations between the parties collapsed to develop the proposed Eleven Park football stadium project at the site.
The Keystone Group had hoped for a combination of private and public investments in the $1.5 billion stadium project, but the city was reportedly only willing to commit about $250 million.
Hogstett claimed their rejection of the proposed funding was intended to protect taxpayers.
“We were willing to put $250 million into a new stadium, but for reasons only Keystone could explain, they came back and asked for additional incentives. At some point, taxpayers have to be protected, and that’s what I decided to do,” he said.
The Hogsett administration ended negotiations with Keystone on the Indy Eleven stadium project on March 22. A month later, it announced its intention to bring a franchise in the MLS – the tier above the USL – to the city.
The mayor said a state-owned stadium and committed local ownership would be key to the bid. An undefined ownership group is reportedly being recruited that could pay the MLS expansion fee, which is expected to exceed $500 million, according to Fox 59.
The USL Championship team, the Indy Eleven, planned to build its new $1.5 billion home
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett offered to buy the property from Keystone Group
Hogsett’s proposed location for an MLS stadium would be near the home of the NBA franchise, the Indiana Pacers.
The city is interested in submitting “an offer that we hope will fairly compensate Keystone for its efforts,” the city said in a letter from Deputy Mayor Dan Parker to Keystone Group and Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir, who also owns Keystone.
Parker added, via the Business Journal of Indianapolisthat the city also owns an acre along the Diamond Chain property used for the Henry Street Bridge project, which is believed to contain as many as 650 remains alone.
Parker said the “proper treatment of the remains on that one acre” could cost as much as $12 million.
“As we have learned more about this site, the city has sought to take an active role in an effort to right the wrongs committed more than a century ago when the resting place of Indianapolis’ first residents was left off the map was cleared and paved. ‘ he said.
“Knowing what we know now, any proposed future development should follow a rigorous and inclusive community conversation about the different perspectives on how we should respect the history of the site and the individuals who continue to rest there.”
A rendering of the football team shows the proposed 20,000-seat multi-purpose stadium
The location of the proposed project, where the Diamond Chain Co.
However, Keystone hit back last week, calling the mayor’s offer to buy the group’s plot of land on the Diamond Group property a “last-ditch effort to salvage the failed rollout of a half-baked idea.”
A statement from Jennifer Pavlik, chief of staff and senior vice president of Keystone Group, said: “Keystone and Indy Eleven have been asking for weeks to sit down with Mayor Hogsett’s negotiating team, and the answer has always been the same: instead of stating facts, discuss. and negotiate in good faith, city officials would rather spread disinformation through press releases and play games with your tax dollars.
“For more than fifty years, Indianapolis has achieved great success because it benefited from leadership that saw value in bringing together the business and civic community around bold ideas and big projects.
“Unfortunately, the current administration’s embrace of divisive politics and City Council intimidation has no place in our city. We intend to correct the data as it relates to our ongoing efforts to work with the community to provide peaceful reinternment for those buried in a site that has been ignored and disrespected for more than a century.
“Rather than respond to Mr. Parker’s last-ditch effort to salvage the failed rollout of a half-baked idea, we hope that Mayor Hogsett will once again take the reins of his own government and join us in a thoughtful, mature discussion about the future of football and downtown development in our state’s capital.”
The development would also include more than 600 apartments and office space
The park would also include retail space, restaurants, a hotel and public plazas
The Indy Eleven, who currently play at Carroll Stadium, which is also home to the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars track and field and football teams, had hoped to move into their new home in 2026.
Plans for Eleven Park were anchored by a 20,000-seat multi-purpose stadium intended to serve as Indy Eleven’s new permanent home.
The development would also include more than 600 apartments; 205,000 square meters of office space; more than 197,000 square feet for retail space and restaurants; a hotel; public squares with green space; and public parking garages.
Keystone Group announced last Wednesday that the 87 discovered burials will be reburied at Mount Jackson Cemetery and said a reinternment plan has been submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Department of Historic Preservation and Archaeology for review and approval.