The State of Downtown’s Center Square

by Doug Stephenson

Governor’s Square, or Center Square,  is the four-block area  surrounding Monument Circle with Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Illinois as its boundaries. The square is not only the intersection of the Wholesale, Market, and Business districts, but is also the midway point(or DMZ at times) between Indianapolis city government and Statehouse foot traffic. In the months following the 2020 lockdown and May riots, downtown leaders held several small but lengthy meetings discussing what we needed to do to rehabilitate the area, and particularly the hard-hit square, back to its former vibrancy. While many factors were discussed, nearly all fell under the categories of “cleanliness” and “safety”. Four years out, it’s time to see how far we’ve come.

Cleanliness- After Downtown Indy Inc had a leadership change, its new President, Taylor Shafer, brought a relationship with the Mayor’s office and a pot of new money to clean up the…