The $20 million facility will be the largest Indy Parks Family Center
INDIANAPOLIS – Indy Parks will hold a community opening and ribbon cutting for the newly completed Frederick Douglass Family Center and playground on May 23rd at 11am. The $23 million project broke ground in October of 2022 and is part of the Circle City Forward Initiative that invested $45 million into major park projects.
The new family center will offer amenities including two full-sized basketball courts, an indoor walking track, a large community meeting room with a stage, dance, and exercise spaces, a demonstration kitchen, a podcast and technology room, a food pantry, and more.
Funding from the Lilly Endowment Grant provided $3.2 million for the new playground and the center’s new equipment and furniture. An additional $1.5 million from the Lilly Grant will make future improvements to the park’s sports fields. That project is anticipated to begin later this year.
The Frederick Douglass Park Family Center is the third Circle City Forward project to be completed following the opening of the Riverside Promenade in October 2023 and the renovated Krannert Park Family Center in January of 2024. The Grassy Creek Environmental Community Center and the Riverside Adventure Park are both currently under construction. Indy Parks is investing a historic $140 million in new and improved park amenities thanks to funding from the $45 million Circle City Forward Initiative, the city’s $16 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) investment, and the $80 million Lilly Endowment grant.
Opened in 1921, Frederick Douglass Park was named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The exterior of the new family center features images of and quotes from Frederick Douglass. Recent images of the family center and playground can be found here.
