City leaders planning to give little known City County Building Observation Deck new life

INDIANAPOLIS — All the way on the 28th floor of the City County Building in downtown Indianapolis is a little-known room with some of the best views of the city.

”You can see all the neighborhoods, you can see all the businesses, you can see the pyramids way out on 86th Street,” said Judith Thomas, the deputy mayor of Neighborhood Engagement.

The Observation Deck at the very tip top of the CCB hasn’t been open to the public for several years now.

“It closed right around the pandemic time, so it’s not open to the public anymore and we really do think it is a hidden gem here on top of the building,” said Emily Koschnick, the executive director of the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee.

Before it was shuttered for COVID-19 safety, the observation deck was a tourist attraction and school field trip.

”There used to be busses lined up on the street with young people coming in,” said Thomas.

Out of its windows, you get 360-degree views for miles on a clear day like Tuesday.

”You can see all the hotels lined up, you can see the Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium,” Thomas said.

The interior of the observation deck shows its age, green carpet and old posters of events and stars in Indy’s past.

”You can walk around and see some of the yellowing newspaper articles and it is a bit frozen in time,” Koschnick said.

Now, Thomas and Koschnick are working to revitalize the space and reopen it to the public.

”We’re going to do a fresh coat of paint, we’re going to do some new carpeting, clean up the space, add a restroom,” Koschnick said.

Koschnick said the city archivist plans to digitize archives to make Indianapolis history more accessible to the public.

The goal is to create a public-private partnership to bring the Observation Deck back to life. 

”We’re trying to engage as many people in the community,” Koschnick said. “Businesses, maybe some philanthropic partners who want to help us achieve this goal of reimagining this space.”

As the Indianapolis skyline continues to change with a new hospital, new hotels and eventually a completely renovated Circle Centre Mall, Thomas said the Observation Deck should be a place people can come to feel some pride in their evolving city.

“They can come up here and say, ‘Wow, this city really has changed, has evolved and continued to do this and take things to a new level,'” Thomas said. “That’s what I love about this space and we need to show that off a lot more. Walk with some swag.”

There’s no definitive timetable for when the observation deck could reopen to the public but city leaders are hoping to have a full plan and “groundbreaking” in the next year.