The month of June saw a huge push for beautification in the Stadium Village area.  Several projects were implemented over the past month that helped to highlight, beautify and enhance the presence of our neighborhood.  Key improvements included the following:

• The addition of 20 concrete planters along the S. Meridian corridor.
• A new planting of flowers and small shrubs in all of the concrete planters along S. Meridian St. and McCarty St.
• Regular watering/weeding of all the planters
• A new mural on the Shimp building on S. Meridian St.
• The addition of the bison statue at the corner of McCarty and Madison where the I-65/I-70 ramps are located.

The bison statue is a part of the Indiana Association of United Ways “Bison-tennial” art project. This legacy project will help celebrate Indiana’s 200th birthday by decorating and displaying 5-foot-tall fiberglass bison with an end goal of at least one – if not a herd – of bison on display in each of Indiana’s 92 counties.

The Stadium Village Business Association purchased a bison and commissioned Indianapolis artist William Denton Ray to paint the bison for our area. His idea behind the painting was as follows: “There are hints and references to Native American culture within the design. As settlers moved west and civilization exploded the bison were driven westward. If you look at our state seal the pioneer is chopping down a tree and the bison is running west. My bison is positioned facing west mimicking the seal but also points towards the neighborhood“.  Check out the photos below to see the great job he did.

Hats off to Dan Hall with Church Bros. for providing the clear coat on the bison, Kevin Martin with UPS, Steve Alexander with Prince Alexander, and John Bragg with John Bragg Photography for getting the Bison statue commissioned, built, transported and erected at McCarty St. and the I-65/I-70 Ramp.  And thanks to John Bragg, Kevin Martin, Tom Dale, and George Coogan for relocating the planters from Fountain Square to Stadium Village and to JP Parker for helping with the purchase and planting of the flowers.  This was a full team effort and produced some very impressive results.  Well done everyone!!!!