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Over seven years after the John Marshall school building closed, Indianapolis Public Schools has a new plan for the nearly 40-acre site on Indianapolis’ east side.
The school board voted unanimously Thursday night to divide the property into three separate parcels. One parcel will be sold by IPS, one parcel will be redeveloped in partnership with Indy Parks and Recreation, and the third parcel’s fate will be decided by a task force.
“It’s a win for the far east side community and I think it’s absolutely a win for Indianapolis as a whole,” said IPS Commissioner Gayle Cosby.
The John Marshall task force, made up of community and business leaders, met over several months before making the recommendation that the board adopted.
The largest parcel of land, the 16 acres containing the 342,000-square-foot building and adjacent parking lots, will be put up for sale. The board plans to review and approve the purchase agreement for this parcel sometime in August or September.
The southern parcel of land contains the old track and football field, a baseball field, soccer fields, and four tennis courts. IPS will work with Indy Parks to include that parcel in the Grassy Creek Regional Park master planning process.
Indy Parks and Recreation Principal Park Planner Andre Denman said he hopes the final master plan for the park, including the new piece of land from John Marshall, will be approved by March 2026.
“Parks are essential to community access,” said Commissioner Allissa Impink. “They contribute to the vibrancy, health, and happiness of our neighborhoods and this step demonstrates our shared commitment to monitoring the legacy of the site while investing in the well-being of our communities for generations to come.”
Finally, the future of the eight-acre parcel of land on the east side of the property remains undecided. The task force will continue to meet to develop a plan, which could involve adding the land onto plans for one of the other parcels, or a separate development.
The property has a tumultuous history. John Marshall opened as a high school in 1968 before closing in 1986 due to declining enrollment. After re-opening in 1993, the school flip-flopped several times between serving as a middle school and as a high school. The school closed permanently in 2018 due to academic struggles and facility disrepair.
Following the school’s closure, IPS offered the property to charter schools and higher education institutions under a state law requiring school districts to offer abandoned properties for the price of $1. No one wanted it.
The next plan for the site involved its conversion into a community hub. The John Marshall Opportunity Hub would have included up to two dozen “opportunity providers,” including Ivy Tech Community College, Gleaners Food Bank, and Eskenazi Health, as well as employment support services. The city of Indianapolis would have worked with a group called the John Marshall Collaborative to get the community center off the ground.
But the plan fell through when the city declined to purchase the school, citing over $18 million in deferred maintenance costs.
Samantha Camire is a summer reporting intern covering education in the Indianapolis area. Contact Samantha at scamire@chalkbeat.org.
