INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WTTV) – New questions are emerging over Indianapolis' dueling plans to land a Major League Soccer team. But one plan seems to be gaining momentum.
The project is located on Henry Street on the east bank of the White River, where the city owns an acre of land and has budgeted $12 million for the removal of remains from Old Greenlawn Cemetery.
Indy Eleven owner Ersar Ozdemir is already building on the site of a former Diamond Chain factory on Kentucky Avenue and a cemetery. This cemetery contains many graves of Indianapolis residents over 100 years before him.
The city questions whether Ozdemir's developer, Keystone Group, can recover the remains in a respectful, time-efficient and financially sound manner.
“I think the whole community has very real concerns about how these issues are going to be mediated and overcome,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said.
That's one reason the Mayor's Office identified the current home of the Indy Heliport as a potential downtown soccer stadium to be built in the Professional Sports Development Area taxing district, which would require City Council sponsorship. The helipad is located at 51 South New Jersey Street, about a mile northeast of his other two sites.
“We want MLS to come to Indianapolis, pure and simple, and to do that we need to provide Major League Soccer with several different options,” Hogsett said.
Hogsett said that when he met with Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber in New York City last month, the commissioner insisted that every indy soccer team is heavily involved in local capital.
“They are interested in local leaders who are in a financially viable position and who are willing to be hands-on in working with the city in developing a team and building a state-of-the-art soccer-specific stadium. .”