Last week I attended Indy Hub’s Hello Neighbor walking tour of the Town of Speedway. The summer series takes you to Indianapolis neighborhoods to introduce you to the people that know their community best. It is a fun-filled evening guaranteed to make you want to come back, share with your friends, and will leave you with even more pride for our city.
We tend to live and work in one neighborhood and forget about all that Indianapolis has to offer. The Indy Hub team organizes these Hello Neighbor! outings to provide a chance to explore the quirky, fun neighborhood spots that you may not be familiar with. Past tours included Fletcher Place/Fountain Square, Garfield Park, the Near Eastside, Kennedy King, and the Bates Hendricks neighborhoods. There’s always something new happening and the Town of Speedway did not disappoint.
Our tour began at the historic Allison Transmission Plant located along the Main Street of Speedway. Allison’s engines are currently used in bus, fire, construction, distribution, and military products. It was fascinating to learn about Allison’s military history and their commitment to remaining in Indiana even when other manufacturers were locating to Michigan and Connecticut.
James Allison founded the company in 1909 and is also responsible for creating the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. World War I caused Allison to stop racing and instead, they built and supplied the engines for the Liberty airplane. General Motors was impressed with their ingenuity and purchased the company in 1928 after Allison passed away. GM was crucial in Allison’s decision to move to military vehicles and later civilian vehicles after WWII.
While the Allison Transmission facility has certainly grown and expanded over the years, the historic building located at 1200 Main Street still remains an important part of history. Our next stop was the neighborhood and home portion of the tour. An adorable little helper passed out water bottles to combat the summer heat as we wandered through the neighborhood of eclectic homes with their original architecture still intact. American flags swayed in the breeze, creating the perfect backdrop of an idyllic Midwest town.
Our neighborhood jaunt brought us to Carl G. Fisher Elementary School, which is also connected to the Speedway Junior High School. The principal of Fisher Elementary was kind enough to answer our questions and provide an overview of the history of the Sparkplugs. The schools are named after the four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Frank Wheeler Elementary School, James Allison Elementary School, Arthur Newby Elementary School, and Carl Fisher Elementary School.
The Town of Speedway does not have school buses and the school district plans to keep it that way since many students are easily able to walk to school. Small class sizes, creative courses, and their innovations program make Speedway schools one of the best in the state.
Next, we walked along the Peoria Eastern Rail Trail to the Legend’s Plaza at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) to hear from Doug Boles, the President of the IMS. Not only is he the best dressed man in Indy, but he also does an amazing job promoting the IMS and making it a year-round attraction. Doug provided a preview of what to expect at the Red Bull Air Race on October 1-2. The planes will take off and land at the IMS with fans seated in turns three and four to take it all in.
Our IMS stop led us across the street to a new pocket park that will be installed with original artwork created by local artist Arlon Bayliss. Arlon shared his vision for the ‘drunk proof’ sculpture that will be installed in the next month with the help of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. The park will be a great addition to the neighborhood and his artwork is sure to be a conversation starter among residents and visitors.
Our final stop of the evening was Daredevil Brewing. All of that walking required a cold beverage and Daredevil was the perfect place to have a drink and celebrate the history (and future) of Speedway.
Editor’s Note: We are so gracious for the support of Indianapolis Power and Light Company as our presenting sponsor of Hello Neighbor! Be sure to mark your calendar for our last event of the summer on September 22 in Englewood Village. Learn more.
