Map page 16
The Broad Ripple Gazette
Vol. 16 No. 12
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og r F
Including the Cultural Districts and Midtown: Meridian-Kessler, Butler-Tarkington, and Meridian St.
Crossword page 13
Jun. 14 - Jun. 27, 2019
Random Ripplings
At the May 23rd Tails and Ales at the Broad Ripple Brewpub, 65th and Cornell Avenue. The last dog rescue event before the summer break is June 20 from 6pm to 9pm. Right: A dog at the Furever We Love dog rescue booth. www.fureverwelove.com
Glendale apts development meeting held By Alan Hague
alan@broadripplegazette.com
photo by C. "Frog" Russell
Installment Eleven
Chapter Ten
From your editor: I have received several requests for a reprint of the 1968 publication “A History of Broad Ripple” by The Junior Historical Society and The Riparian Newspaper, both of Broad Ripple High School. We haven’t published this information since 2004 and many new residents are now in Broad Ripple and have never read it. Where we come from is important. It has some errors. I will try to correct them as they appear. I will attempt to reprint the entire booklet. I will include each section as space permits. -AH
Floods ravage town The town of Broad Ripple was the unhappy victim of various disasters between 1880 and 1920. The first on record was a fire which occurred in 1889 and destroyed the Ripple Hotel. That hotel, located at the corner of Winthrop and Westfield, was rebuilt, only to be damaged again in the gas explosion which also damaged Watt’s Drug Store [Note: today The Runners Forum], the I.O.O.F. Hall [Note: today The Red Room], Gresh’s Grocery, the Christian Church [Note: may have been Union Church where fire station is today], and Isaac White’s livery stable. The fire was thought to have been caused by a leak in a gas main or by a fire in an old film laboratory. This disaster killed seven people and injured several others. In 1902, Kingan’s ice houses, which occupied the area where Bill Kuhn’s used car lot is now located [Note: today FedEx & Joella’s Hot Chicken], burned. The fire was so intense that a bucket brigade had to be formed to keep nearby Broad Ripple High School from catching on fire. Rebuilt soon after the fire took place, the ice houses were later abandoned in 1917. The biggest fire, after the 1891 gas explosion, occurred February 3, 1906, and supposedly was caused by flying sparks from the 2 a.m. Monon freight train. The fire was believed to have started in Jackson’s store and to have spread first to the Hoffman House Restaurant and then to Charles Florander’s blacksmith shop. A large coal and wood storage shed near Jackson’s store ignited and continued burning for a long time after the other flames were extinguished. The fire burned for two hours before extra help came from Engine House Number Five on 15th Street and Hose Company Number Fourteen at 15th and Kenwood. These units were needed because there were no fire hydrants in the area and the Broad Ripple Fire Station needed help in obtaining water from the canal. No deaths were recorded; however, George Melick, a former Broad Ripple marshal, was nearly
Kite Realty Group held a community meeting at the old Glendale Macy’s on June 4th. There were around 30 in attendance. Kite showed the latest plans for its proposed 7-building, 267-unit, apartment project. Six of the buildings would be on the overflow parking lot east of Glendale Town Center, across Rural Street. The seventh, and largest, building would be built in the parking lot south of BW3, between the old Macy’s and Rural Street. The development would only go as far south as the cinemas. The portion of the lot east of Lowes is owned by Lowes, not by Kite. Any development on that property would be announced by Lowes. Residents had many questions, including why the old covenants restricting development in this area are being violated. It was explained that those were not traditional covenants on the deed, but zoning restrictions the City placed on the property back in 1969 when pre-Kite Glendale rezoned the east lot. It was also announced that new retail tenants are in the works for the old Macy’s space. The new buildings are scaled so as to place the taller one near Macy’s, with the shorter buildings across Rural, closer to the neighborhood. This scale then steps down to the existing wall between Glendale the neighborhood. Residents were concerned about the lack of any new barrier plantings along the wall. Kite explained that while landscaping, including trees, is planned for the rest of the development, it is felt that the wall and the existing plantings on the west side of that wall are sufficient to screen the new development. After a discussion, Kite agreed that further talks with the residents are needed to work out an acceptable landscaping plan. More public meetings will follow.
See HISTORY pg. 4
INDEX
www.broadripplegazette.com 1 Frog’s Random Rippling
5 BRHS reunion lunch
8 Buzzing Around Town
12 Random Rippling medians 14 Random Rippling barber
1 History of BR part 11
5 BR Brewpub Quiz
8 White River plan
12 Where in the Village?
15 Directory / Maps
1 Glendale apts meeting
6 Classified Ads/Public Notices
9 BR Farmers Market
12 Hidden History/Sudoku
19 Life of the Party
2 Random Rippling field trip
7 Random Rippling learning
10 ACR history part 6
13 Crossword/Historic Ad
19 Sertoma essay contest
3 Calendar
7 Local Contacts
11 Random Rippling dentist
13 BRVA zoning
19 Broad Ripple Museum
4 Random Rippling Olympics
7 Mistakes winner
11 Poetic Thoughts
14 Wine Scene Jill A. Ditmire
20 Random Rippling flags