Retro Indy: When Lockerbie Square almost became a Victorian-era Hoosier Disneyland

Indianapolis Star

5 days ago

Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley lived on Lockerbie Street from 1893 until his death in 1916. In the early 1900s, he penned an ode to the street with lines that read: 'Such a dear little street it is, nestled away. From the noise of the city and the heat of the day.'
Riley's description is still apt more than 100 years after his death. With its tree-lined streets and restored 19th century homes, Lockerbie Square remains one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in downtown Indianapolis.
But a redevelopment plan initially proposed by the city in the 1950s would have demolished many of these historic homes, replacing them with a tourist attraction proponents described as a combination of Colonial Williamsburg and Disneyland.
The Lockerbie Fair plan was aimed at revitalizing a neighborhood that steadily declined in the years after Riley's death. Families fled downtown in the post WWI-era, eager to escape the black smoke pouring from coal-fired furnaces that covered everything with a sooty film. While Riley's home had been preserved as a museum in 1923, other residences were torn down, abandoned or turned into low-rent rooming houses.
In 1958, the city released a detailed plan to rehabilitate the four-square block area surrounding Riley's home. Lockerbie Fair would include a children's park, a 'Gay 90s'-themed shopping area and a re-creation of a Victorian neighborhood complete with gas lights and cobblestone streets. Automobiles would be banned, and visitors transported by horse and buggy.
The business community and local government strongly supported Lockerbie Fair. But as the project's price tag rose to $7.5 million over the next several years, public and private funding failed to materialize.
The plan lay dormant until 1966, when the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (now Indiana Landmarks) announced that it would seek legislation to establish a historic preservation commission to oversee the rehabilitation of the blighted Lockerbie area. The proposed legislation was adopted in 1967, and by the end of the year the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission (IHPC) proposed a new plan for the living history site that would be entirely funded by the private sector.
Under the revised Lockerbie Fair plan, many of the old homes that lined New York Street would be demolished or relocated to make way for a parking lot. Multiple historic buildings would be torn down and replaced with replicas of the first Indianapolis Statehouse and other long-gone historic buildings, including Circle Hall, where Henry Ward Beecher preached, and the Bates House, where Abraham Lincoln delivered a major speech on the way to his first inauguration in 1861.
The Lockerbie Fair plan also included a 'Gay 90s' Main Street featuring a variety of old-timey stores, including a blacksmith and an ice cream parlor. Hook's considered moving its historic drugstore from the State Fairgrounds to the area, while the Indiana National Bank announced plans to establish a Victorian-style branch and L.S. Ayres expressed interest in opening a replica of its first store.
Indiana Landmarks spearheaded the development of the plan, purchasing vacant lots and restoring historic homes.
But by 1971, it became clear that the Lockerbie Fair concept was doomed. Businesses were reluctant to invest in the project without firm guarantees of retail success, and changes in the tax code forced Indiana Landmarks to temporarily withdraw its support. The neighborhood continued to decline, due in part to absentee landlords who served a transient clientele and cared little about preservation.
The turning point for Lockerbie Square came 50 years ago when cities were asked to adopt projects in honor of the nation's 200th birthday. The city's bicentennial committee charged the IHPC with developing a 'realistic' plan for Lockerbie., With the support of the newly formed neighborhood association, Indiana Landmarks restored the Holler cottage at 324 N. Park Avenue to serve as the city's bicentennial headquarters and show what could be done with homes in the area.