The City-County Building is a 28-story municipal office building in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Completed in 1962, the high-rise houses several public agencies of the consolidated city-county government of Indianapolis and Marion County. Executive and legislative functions are carried out from the building; the county courts exited for a new courthouse in 2022.
| City-County Building | |
|---|---|
_exterior.jpg) City-County Building looking northwest from Washington and Alabama streets | |
  Location within Indianapolis  City-County Building (Indianapolis) (Indianapolis)  City-County Building (Indianapolis) (Indiana)  City-County Building (Indianapolis) (the United States) | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Government offices |
| Location | 200 E. Washington St. Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 |
| Coordinates | 39°46′04.5″N 86°09′12.75″W / 39.767917°N 86.1535417°W |
| Construction started | 1959 |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Cost | $22 million |
| Owner | Indianapolis–Marion County Building Authority |
| Height | |
| Roof | 372 ft (113 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 28 |
| Floor area | 734,447 sq ft (68,232.4 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Wright, Porteous & Lowe/Bonar; Lennox, Matthews, Simmons & Ford, Inc. |
| Structural engineer | J. M. Rotz Engineering Co. |
History
editThe building opened in 1962 after two years of construction,[1] at a cost of $22 million.[2] The City-County Building is notable as the first building to surpass the height of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. It remained the tallest building in the city until 1970.[1] The building's total floor area covers 734,447 sq ft (68,232.4 m2).[3]
Prior to its construction, Marion County offices were located in the Marion County Courthouse, which stood on what is now Richard G. Lugar Plaza on the south side of the City-County Building; the courthouse was demolished upon completion of the latter. Indianapolis city offices were located in the Indianapolis City Hall.[4]
Usage
editSeveral public agencies maintain administrative offices in the City-County Building, including the city's departments of business and neighborhood services, metropolitan development, parks, public works, and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Until 2022, the building's east and west wings housed the Marion County Courts.[5]
The building's second-floor contains the Beurt R. SerVaas Public Assembly Room, which serves as the Indianapolis City-County Council chambers and a venue for public meetings of various boards and commissions. The office of the Mayor of Indianapolis is on the twenty-fifth floor of the building.[6] A service elevator leads to a public observation deck on the twenty-eighth floor of the building.[7]
Proposal to sell to private sector
editIn 2017, the city began the process to build a new criminal justice complex in the Twin Aire neighborhood that opened in 2022. As a result, there will be a large amount of empty space in the City-County Building. In 2018, the administration of Mayor Joe Hogsett began a process to determine how much office space the city-county government will require in the future, and where it should be located. One possibility is to sell the CCB to private developers and move some of the government offices to the Old Indianapolis City Hall. "Our offices struggle to reorganize around modern technology," Hogsett said. "Many of our offices are sized with the assumption records will be kept in rows and rows of filing cabinets. Why not? That's how they kept the records in 1960. That's how the (City-County Building) was built."[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "City-County Building, Indianapolis". Emporis. Archived from the original on February 29, 2008. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Caldwell, Howard; Jones, Darryl (1990). Goodall, Kenneth (ed.). Indianapolis. Bloomington, Indiana, United States: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-32998-1. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ^ Olson, Scott (April 23, 2018). "Hogsett explores shopping City-County Building, other downtown properties for overhauls". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^ Zeigler, Connie J. (1994). "City County Buildings". In Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. pp. 429–430. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.
- ^ Wooten, Taylor (March 28, 2024). "City-County Council committee advances $37M plan to finance jail demolition, building improvements". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ Price, Nelson (2004). Indianapolis Then & Now. San Diego, California: Thunder Bay Press. p. 38. ISBN 1-59223-208-6.
- ^ Indy.gov. "Observation Deck". indy.gov/activity/city-county-building-observation-deck. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
- ^ Briggs, James; Martin, Ryan (April 22, 2018). "Old City Hall could become Indianapolis' new city hall again". Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
External links
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