War Memorial in Downtown Indy being Repaired

Source: WISH-TV / WISH-TV

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — You may have seen the scaffold team going up on the south side of the war memorial of downtown Indianapolis.  

The war memorial. It has a roof that’s a core part of the Indianapolis skyline, but a leak in that roof is the cause of all the construction on this key Indianapolis landmark.  

The war memorial sprung a leak a few years ago and underwent major repairs in 2020. General Stewart Goodwin is the executive director of the Indiana War Memorial’s Commision. He says now that the roof is sealed, repairs to the indoor damage can start.  

“It’s a plaster ceiling, so when the water came through, what it did was it caused the plaster to become loose and it discolored it,” Goodwin said.  

The ceiling is so high inside the war memorial, crews had to start the scaffolding outside of the building to be able to get the scaffolding set up inside.  

“They must be stabilized, and so that’s why it’s taken so long. We start the scaffolding at the farthest corners of the floor to get it where we can build it up where it will reach the ceiling,” Goodwin said.  

Goodwin had to secure the funding for this large project from the state. In total, it will cost Indiana taxpayers over two million dollars.  

“The big expense here obviously is the scaffolding,” Goodwin says.  

He says it’s crucial these landmarks are preserved.  

“We can never forgive these people for what they did so that we can live the way we live today,” he says.  

You can expect the repairs of the war memorial to be done by mid-September of next year.