Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission Meeting - March 4, 2026
Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission Meeting - March 4, 2026
The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission (IHPC) held its regular meeting on March 4, 2026, to review old business, new applications, and public hearing items. The commission addressed multiple certificates of appropriateness, variances, and a certificate of authorization, with votes on design approvals, parking lot improvements, and a painted chimney dispute.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from the January meeting was moved and passed unanimously.
- A request to continue case 2025 COA 489B (409 Massachusetts Avenue) to the May 6 hearing was approved.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were offered during the public hearing portion for any of the new applications.
Discussion Items
- 621 Lockerby Street (Old Business): Property owner Rhonda Duval and counsel Ari Lepinski provided an update on repairs. They reported progress on a chimney certificate of appropriateness and ongoing contractor negotiations for siding and roof repairs. The commission stressed the need for visible progress by the next meeting.
- 2023 COA 110 & 111 Fletcher Place (323 Cincinnati Street): Applicant Mark Crouch presented final construction drawings. Staff noted minor changes since 2023, including window well additions and a moved window. The commission offered no further requests and continued the case to the next month.
- Boxcar Entertainment Venue (Old Business): Tim Oaks and Melody Park presented the design for a venue partially in the wholesale district. Commissioner David Baker expressed support for deferring to the Regional Center approval process, while Commissioner Anson Keller argued the scale was inappropriate. The motion to approve passed (voice vote, 4-2 split noted from previous meeting; final tally not explicitly stated, but approved).
- 2026 VHP 001 (606 Fletcher Avenue): Findings of fact were adopted unanimously.
- 2026 COA 016 (Heron Morton Place, 1716 North New Jersey Street): Applicant Melissa Ayanucci sought approval for a new house and garage, with a debate over an 8-foot vs. 9-foot second-floor ceiling height affecting the cornice line. Commissioners generally supported the 9-foot option, citing the varied streetscape. Staff recommendation to approve with conditions was adopted unanimously.
- 2026 COA 018 & 2026 VHP 002 (St. Joe, 817 North Pennsylvania Street): Ashley Danielson and Ryan Ellsworth proposed demolishing a non-contributing 1949 building and constructing a four-story office building. Discussion focused on the adjacent surface parking lots. The commission approved the demolition and building design but required a future site plan for parking lot improvements, including landscaping and screening, as a stipulation before permits could be issued. The variance was also approved. Both motions passed unanimously.
- 2026 COA 012A (Irvington, 15 Campbell Avenue): Stephanie Truchen requested a certificate of authorization to retain a painted chimney, citing hardship from a previous owner's unauthorized work. A heated debate ensued over preservation risks, precedents, and the owner's attempt to remove paint. The commission voted 8–1 to approve the certificate of authorization, with staff committing to file a complaint with the city prosecutor against the prior owner.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved from January (unanimous).
- Continuance granted for 2025 COA 489B to May 6, 2026.
- Expedited cases (2026 COA 017 and 2026 COA 019) approved as read.
- 621 Lockerby Street continued to next month for progress update.
- Fletcher Place cases continued to next month for final approval.
- Boxcar entertainment venue approved (voice vote, split noted).
- 606 Fletcher Avenue findings of fact adopted.
- 1716 North New Jersey Street approved with 9-foot ceiling height.
- 817 North Pennsylvania Street approved subject to stipulations requiring parking lot improvements and a future site plan review.
- 15 Campbell Avenue certificate of authorization approved 8-1; staff to pursue legal action against prior owner.
- James T. Kinley Memorial Way request to be made at March 9 city-county council meeting.
Meeting Transcript
The first order of business is approval of the minutes from January. We're in your packet. Any comments, corrections? If not, I'll take a motion for their approval, please. Thank you, Annie. Thank you, Kristen. Any final comments? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, same sign? Okay, thank you. We'll move to old business. We have a number of cases this evening. Meg will start out with 621 Lockerby Street, please. Yes, I think the property owner is here to give us an update on some contracts that they might have in the works and possibly some start dates to begin. So if they want to present. The council just arrived. He said that he'll be here in a minute. And be here in a few minutes. Okay, we'll wait. We'll we'll just move on in the agenda and then come back to you. Excuse me. Then uh we've got 2023 COA 110 Fletcher Place, address 323 Cincinnati Street, Mark Crouch. Are you here? Okay. Come come forward and be uh sworn in and then uh state your name and address, please. Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth? Say I do. I do. Perfect. My name is Mark Crouch. Address is 124 East Pleasant Room Parkway. Yeah, go ahead, please. Um I don't know, we're here for an update, I think. I'm not really sure. Yeah, Shelby, you want to go ahead. Thank you. Yeah, that's worse. That's fine. So this case and actually the next case um are on an existing lot together and they're being subdivided. So if we want to do those together, we can. Um but both these cases, we're just looking for any commission feedback on final construction drawings as part of their COAs. Um, they're supposed to review those under old business. Um but next month you will be seeing um a case related to these cases as far as alterations of the alley surrounding the properties, um, which will determine basically the the site themselves. So tonight we're just looking for the feedback and then they'll come back next month with that alley case as well as um hopefully to get that final approval from you on these drawings as well. Okay, so just for the record, we'll also hear 2023 COA 111 uh Fletcher Place at the same time. So uh are there any comments from the commission on those two cases? David, please go ahead. Excuse me. So it did not look to me like there was any difference at all between the 2023 plans when I looked at the elevations and the ones tonight, except for the garage of one of them that has two pedestrian doors instead of one.
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