The nomination for Emerson Heights to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places was approved on Jan 27th, 2010.

The Indiana Historic Preservation Review Board voted today to accept our nomination to the State Historic Register and forward the application to the National Parks Service for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Applications approved at the state level are typically accepted in the National Register on the state’s recommendation within 45 days.

Connie Ziegler of C Resources, Indianapolis, was hired to research, document and write the application. Funding for the nomination was provided by the Indianapolis Foundation, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana and neighborhood residents. A big "Thank You" to each of them.

The neighborhood has taken this step because being on the National Register of Historic Places is a rigorous process that clearly demonstrates that the neighborhood is historically significant. It’s our hope that it encourages both current residents and future residents to preserve the historic fabric of the neighborhood.

National Register status makes tax credits available to owners of contributing properties and makes it easier to market the neighborhood to people who want to invest in a historic community. In addition, the research and documentation that went into the nomination will help to preserve and interpret our neighborhood for the future.

The complete nomination application is very thorough, provides an excellent reference document and shows which structures are contributing and non-contributing.

Steer-In voted best Breakfast Place!





Two neighborhood businesses maked the "Best of Indy" list. The Steer In (Best breakfast place) and Si Greene's Pub (Best Irish Bar).

See historic photos of the Steer In

Also, several other Eastside establishments are on the list including Jockamo's (Best Pizza), El Sol (best Mexican Restaurant ) the Golden Ace (Best Irish Bar), Papa Roux (Best Cheap Eats), Snips (Best Hair Salon) and Indy Cycle Specialist "Best Bike Shop"


We are proud to make the list - Be sure to visit these establishments and congratulate them!

Opening Spring 2010. The store will be located at 2828 East 10th Street.



With a goal of providing affordable, healthy food options to the community, Indy Food Cooperative, Inc. announces its first non-profit, community-owned grocery store will open at 2828 East 10th Street in Spring 2010 as Pogue's Run Grocer.

"Pogue's Run Grocer seeks to improve the quality of life in Indianapolis by providing the community with access to good food, while supporting the local economy instead of national grocery chains," said Kyle Hendrix, president of Indy Food Cooperative.

"Nearly 200 households representing residents all across Indianapolis have joined as members of the cooperative, but putting Indy's only non-profit, storefront grocery store in an underserved area of the city meets an important mission of our group," continued Hendrix,

This week, Indy Food Cooperative announces the signing of a lease for a building that has sat empty along a blighted section of East 10th Street for five years, the former Lane TV building. Volunteers of the cooperative will begin demolishing the interior walls on August 8 in preparation for the transformation of the space into a grocery store.

"Finding an adaptive reuse for this property will preserve and improve another building as well as provide jobs and a living wage -- a touchdown for the community and a great start to the 2012 Super Bowl Legacy project goal to revitalize the 10th Street Corridor during the next three years," said Patrick Dooley, co-chair of the 2012 Super Bowl Legacy's committee for economic development along the corridor.

Over the next three months, the 70 year old building near the intersection of 10th and Rural Streets will be renovated into a 3,000 square foot full-line grocery store. Shelves will be lined with fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, poultry, personal care items and more. Members receive discounts on their purchases and other benefits, but the store will be open to the general public.

"Building a strong neighborhood relies upon people working together and the Indy Food Co-op's investment in this community demonstrates the positive impact neighbors can make. The Food Co-op will bring fresh food back into our neighborhood -- making it available to residents that do not have access to a grocery store," continued Dooley.

"The location offers a central location and is conveniently accessible by car, bike, bus or foot," added Hendrix. "Pogue's Run Grocer will be a true community marketplace to benefit those who care about health, and who believe that good food should be affordable and accessible to all."

Indy Food Co-op is currently looking for additional members before the store opens. Please take this opportunity to join.

Indy Food Co-op

The NEO is a circular shuttle service for the Near Eastside community. It begins at the John H Boner Community Center, and heads north on Jefferson Avenue. Service hours are Monday through Saturday from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM and from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. It completes the route in one hour.

The NEO provides a shuttle transportation service for residents of the Near Eastside community filling in the gaps of the current Indygo service as a way for residents to have access to not only the downtown loop, but to connect them to jobs, shopping, and recreation destinations in the neighborhood.

NEORouteMap.pdf

We can't do it without your support.

This is Your Organization
Emerson Heights Community Organization is made up of neighborhood residents volunteering to preserve the historic, cultural and economic value of our community. In addition to volunteers, EHCO needs the financial support of its residents to operate.

What We Do Costs Money
Although we try to keep our expenses low, there are day-to-day operating expenses for the newsletter, the website, post office box, answering service, insurance, etc.

In addition, special projects require some investment as well. For example: We are very grateful for the pro-bono legal help in closing Dream Weaver’s, but we did have some expenses. The National Register nomination was largely funded by generous grants; however, EHCO is still required to match those grants. EHCO also buys the food after the neighborhood cleanups and makes up the shortfall in donations for the Christmas party. In the past, most of these expenses have been paid for by individual members and/or members of the Executive Committee.



We are Asking Each Household for an Annual Donation
Rather than a few people shouldering the financial burden for the entire neighborhood, we are asking each household to show its support for EHCO by donating $12 per year. We realize not every household will be able to participate – but we would like as many households as possible to contribute. Some people are willing and able to do more and we appreciate that.

We Want to Make It Easy to Contribute
Making your donation is easy – you can mail a check or use a credit card online. See our donation page for details.

Supporters will be listed on the website and in our newsletter unless they wish to remain anonymous.

We often drive past the brick entrance columns to our neighborhood and don’t give them a second thought; however, these columns are important. The columns mark the edges of the community in addition to identifying it. They set our neighborhood apart and are a visible link to our past.

The entrance columns set the tone for the neighborhood – The brick construction with a “limestone” cap is similar to the design of our front porch columns, often even using the same color and style of brick. Being of a more recent era, they are an intentionally less ornate design than the Victorian era entrance markers in Woodruff Place, for example.

These columns were built at the same time the neighborhood was being developed, making them 100 years old. You can imagine how they helped identify the neighborhood for passengers on the streetcar line that ran along Michigan and Emerson. They are also one of the features of our neighborhood that reflect the City Beautiful design movement. You can see early photos of the columns in the photo gallery on our website under “Development Book”. We aren’t aware of any columns ever being on 10th Street.

Unfortunately many of these columns are in poor condition. Some have been altered, poorly repaired or are missing altogether. EHCO has been exploring ways that we can restore the existing columns and replace the ones that are missing entirely. Of course we want to be sensitive to the original columns by using the same type of brick, mortar and methods. We also want to avoid changing the basic design.

The goal is to have the columns completed well in advance of the centennial celebration for our neighborhood in 2012.With a restoration that focuses on staying true to the original intent of these columns, as well as structural integrity, we can highlight the link to the past, mark the neighborhood boundaries and again set the tone of the neighborhood for another 100 years in the future.

The entrance column restoration is a project of the EHCO Revitalization Committee. We need volunteers who will help manage projects like this. To volunteer, contact Rebecca Seifert or Kurt Wiegand.

In addition to the streetcar lines, another large influence on the design of our neighborhood was the City Beautiful movement. And although it’s important to understand and appreciate all of the design elements in our neighborhood, the esplanades are particularly prominent features that are reflective of this movement. These esplanades help to make Emerson Heights unique and they deserve the neighborhood’s attention as it nears its centennial in 2011.

City Beautiful was an urban planning movement prevalent around the turn of the last century. It was a response to what had become crowded, dirty and disorderly cities. It was reform minded with the goal of not only introducing order, improving sanitation and such, but also using urban design to inspire the inhabitants to moral and civic virtue.

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On a recent Saturday morning, a group of Emerson Heights residents met in Joe Wade’s yard to hear about the Adopt-a-Block program sponsored by our partners at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB). Sarah Grain from KIB explained that the program is designed to help neighbors build a sense of stewardship of their block and reduce trash.

How It Works
Residents sign up to become a Block Coordinator and organize other people on their street. Together, these neighbors work to keep the public areas, including the street and alley, free of trash. Representatives from KIB and the city then score the blocks on a scale of 1-4 each month through the warm weather. A block that averages a “2” or better will receive free flowers from KIB in the spring. Sarah also provided participants with gloves, trash bags, brooms, litter grabbers, etc. to help in the efforts.

If Adopt-a-Block participants are successful, for the streets that have medians, the flowers can be used in flower beds at the cross streets. On other streets, the flowers can be used in front yards or in flower boxes / planters to enhance the curb appeal of the neighborhood.

Example: 700 Block of Wallace
Chris Coy is the Block Coordinator for the 700 block of Wallace and he was so excited he rushed and put door hangers on each door on his block. He received a great response. Within an hour of putting the door hangers out he was weeding curbs and was joined by two adults and five kids. Together, they picked up trash for hours!

Chris said, “I am so proud of my block and the young people who worked so hard. I woke up Sunday to find these kids picking up trash again! WOW, what a great feeling.”

The kids, Frankie, Margaret, Jasmine, Courtney, and Cade even named their club the 700 S.C.K.s (Street Cleaning Kids). He rewarded the helpers with ice cream and later they cooled off with a water fight. Besides the kids, Chris would also like to thank the adults, Beth and Barb, and the residents of 714 for supplying the water for the water fight.

They planning on a heavy clean-up on a Saturday in August followed by a Pizza party.


How You Can Help
We are still looking for Block Coordinators on many streets! Please help us keep the neighborhood clean and earn free flowers by volunteering to be a Block Coordinator or assisting one that’s already established. Contact Joe Wade or Kurt Wiegand at 375-0239 or webmaster@emersonheights.org. We can tell you how to sign-up and get started.

If you can’t volunteer right now, try to help out by making a habit of picking up the trash in front of your own home and keeping your part of the alley clean. Remember to put all of your trash in the dumpster since they won’t pick up bags of trash that aren’t in a dumpster. Also, wait until heavy trash days to put heavy trash out. For more info on trash disposal see “Talkin’ Trash”.

The Adopt a Block program dovetails very well with our efforts to make Emerson Heights a more attractive and marketable neighborhood, including our efforts to revitalize the medians. Having a clean neighborhood discourages crime by demonstrating that people care. It also improves property values and helps retain quality tenants in rental property.

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. has been a very helpful partner for Emerson Heights including our tree plantings, neighborhood cleanups and the Adopt-a-Block program. We want to thank Sarah and everyone at KIB for their support.

11/13/07 Update! The first phase of this project, from I70 to 21st Street has been awarded funding! Please join us for an Open House on 12/10/07 to celebrate!

The Emerson Avenue Corridor Gateway Project will improve the appearance of Emerson Avenue and create a sense of entry to the eastside of Indianapolis. The project is a collaborative, grassroots effort of neighborhoods along the project length, from the I-70/Emerson Avenue Interchange and south to Washington Street and on to the proposed Pennsy Trail.

This effort will emphasize connectivity—through modes of transportation—pedestrian, bike, bus, and automobiles, as well as access and linkages to parks, trails and other cultural amenities, providing a sense of continuity and place along this corridor.

In all, this project will restore, rehabilitate and promote the community assets of the neighborhoods along the Emerson Avenue corridor, adding further momentum to the revitalization efforts currently underway on the eastside of Indianapolis. It provides a foundation for, and complements, other revitalization projects such as the Irvington National Road Streetscape Project, the Eastside Residential TIF District, the Eastside Redevelopment Zone and the Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative.

The design team is headed by the landscape architecture firm of CBA, Inc. CBA has considerable experience with Transportation Enhancement projects and is also the consulting firm working on the Irvington National Road Streetscape. Two of the members of the project team live in Irvington, near the Emerson Avenue corridor. Other members of the design team include the engineering firm of Butler, Fairman & Seufert (BF&S) and 2nd Globe Studios, all of Indianapolis.

The initial application for a Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant was submitted March, 2007. 4/13 Update: The application was forwarded from the MPO to INDOT for statewide competition for funds. We have made it past the first hurdle.

Thank you to all of the organizations that wrote letters of support for the project including:

-Anita J. Harden, President of Community Hospital East
-Community Health Network
-Indy Parks
-Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC)
-Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC)
-Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIBI)
-The Indiana National Road Association (INRA)
-The National Road Heritage Trail, Inc.
-Near East Side Community Organization (NESCO)
-Near Eastside Collaborative Taskforce
-The Eastside Community Organization
-Little Flower Community Organization
-E. 10th Street Civic Association
-Emerson Heights Community Organization
-The Historic Irvington Community Council
-Irvington Development Organization
-The Irvington Garden Club




For more information about this project—contact Rebecca Seifert, 356-9902 or at rseifert@indy.rr.com

The Gateway Toolbox was used in the initial conceptualizing of this project. More information about corridor gateways and the Rotary Gateways Partnership may be found on their site.

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