Part of Monument Circle closes down as Spark returns

INDIANAPOLIS — Spark on the Circle has returned and closed closing down a quarter of Monument Circle to traffic for the second straight year.

Last year, Spark shut down the southwest quadrant of Monument Circle. This year’s version is on the northwest quadrant.

Organizer Jim Walker, executive director of Big Car Collaborative, “Each time, we’re learning something and we’re getting numbers and data and observations that say, ‘Well, here’s what might work.’”

Last year, Spark saw 78,000 people use the pop-up park in five months. Organizers anticipate more people this year because it’ll be open for an additional month.

A welcome truck will greet people with friendly faces.

“It’s about making a space that’s really comfortable and welcoming neighborly, inclusive,” Walker said.

One person who works on the Circle likes the park but doesn’t like the disruption to traffic. Phil Isenbarger said, “I’d like to see traffic go all the way around the Circle, but, as long as it’s temporary thing, I think that makes more sense.”

Would Isenbarger be oppose to a permanent Spark on the Circle? “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to close off the Circle,” he said.

The city’s ultimate goal is to close down at least part of the Circle and make the park permanent.

Iris Dillon, Indianapolis administrator of programing and public use, said, “We are working toward figuring it out because, of course, with the city, everything takes funding, and so the conversations are happening.”

Part of those conversations center around where a permanent park will go and how much of the Circle will close down. This year’s test will be to see if the park will make the northwest quadrant more viable for businesses.

Walker said, “It’s not being utilized very well, so one of the things that this kind of thing can do is bring energy to a space that could use a little more energy.”

Whatever the outcome of the park, it’s not the city’s mission to just force a version of Spark on the Circle that people don’t want.

“We’re all really here to adjust and adapt to what they think and not to just, like, ‘Well, too bad,’” Walker said.