Residents of the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood can look forward to a new family center at Frederick Douglass Park. Community members and city officials broke ground on the project Oct. 13.
“It’s really something that is long overdue,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said, “and I’m so proud that the city of Indianapolis is able to do this for the neighborhood.”
The $20 million project, funded by the mayor’s Circle City Forward Initiative, will include a computer lab, more space to host events, additional basketball courts, a track and more.
The project is expected to be complete by early 2024.
“This will be a blessing to not only Martindale-Brightwood but the entire city of Indianapolis,” said Andre Denman, principal park planner for Indy Parks.
The historic park, named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass, opened in 1921 for the primarily Black neighborhoods located on the northeast side of Indianapolis during a time when they were not allowed in other parks in the city.
The park’s current family center was built in 1943. In 1944, there was a petition to request an expansion for the center because the building was inadequate to meet the community’s needs.
Ten years later, plans were made for renovations, and almost 70 years after that, the neighborhood is close to finally getting its new family center.
Before she died in 2021, Frankie Casel, a co-founder of Friends of Frederick Douglass Park, made it her mission to push city officials and the park’s current and former directors to expand the park and its family center.
Casel was one of many community members who spoke about the need for a new family center as they celebrated the park’s 100-year anniversary in 2020 and 2021.
She moved to the area in 1971 and called the park a “home away from home” for her and her three children during a meeting in January 2020.
Contact staff writer Timoria Cunningham at 317-762-7854 or timoriac@indyrecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @_timoriac.
