A short time ago I was researching the location of an old photo which depicted a footbridge crossing a small creek. I had narrowed down the location of the bridge to either Riverside or Brookside Park in Indianapolis, both of which are parks whose names, and existence, flowed from local waterways. There were actually two Brookside Parks. The one we know today, and the original, which was a small triangular park at Brookside Parkway and Arsenal Avenue which is now known as Fletcher Park. Today's Brookside Park was created in 1898.
While viewing historical aerial photos of Brookside Park for the bridge question,
I spotted what looked like a vague circle in the grass just west of the present-day Brookside community center. That aerial image, from 2005, is shown below.
I visited Brookside Park and found what looked like the remains of a concrete foundation at the site. While it is hard to see, it appears the concrete foundation forms a vague semi-circle, especially in the second photo below, although the curve of the foundation is not as clear in these photos as it is in the aerial above. Aside from a frisbee golf hole, some large stones, and a few trees, there is nothing else at the site to indicate what used to stand at this location.
However, the answer to what stood here lies with the Ball State University library, which maintains architectural archives for the Indianapolis Park system, including architectural and topographic plans for many of the city’s parks. Included among these are plans for Brookside Park, and a topographic map, which shows that the location of the odd concrete circular foundation was where a shelter house once stood.
The plans for the shelter house at Brookside were approved by the park board in April 1899 and was part of a general expansion of facilities at the park, itself a recent addition to the Indianapolis Park system the previous year. In addition to the shelter, a cottage for a park caretaker was to be constructed, as were bridges over Pogue’s Run. The shelter was designed by J. Clyde Power, the superintendent of the park system, who was also an engineer.
The Brookside Park Shelter, or pavilion as some sources called it, was to be constructed in what was described as a “rustic style,” which featured natural materials like field stones of various sizes, and woodwork made of un-milled or natural wooden beams and branches. The rustic style of construction was frequently used around the turn of the century by the Indianapolis Park Board, as well as in other cities.
Rustic bridges, made of wood with un-milled branch railings, were constructed at Brookside and Spades Parks. Riverside Park also had multiple rustic bridges, which were needed to cross the various waterways and lagoons constructed at that park. The postcard below, from the Indiana Album, shows a rustic bridge at Brookside Park, with the shelter house visible at the top of the hill. The bridge in place today would be constructed to the left of the view in this postcard.
As for the shelter at Brookside Park, it was completed by 1900. The Indianapolis News described the shelter as being “built of boulders and limbs of trees [and] is the prettiest building in any of the parks.” Further, the News explained how the shelter was located on the highest point of a bluff over Pogue's Run providing a view over the creek. The shelter was designed with two turrets branching off the corners of the main part of the shelter. The curved foundation observed at the park appears to be the base for the southernmost turret of the shelter. The red arrow on this image shows the location of the foundation pictured above.
The shelter was also built into a slope, with its east side having a door to provide access to the lower level, along with access to a roadway which runs down the hill to a bridge across Pogue's Run. In the image below, Pogue’s Run is to the right, and the roadway can be seen in the foreground.
The image below, from the Frank M. Hohenberger Photograph Collection at the Lilly Library at IU Bloomington, also shows the shelter as it appeared from Pogue's Run looking to the top of the bluff. The shelter house can be seen in the upper right corner of the image.
While the initial plans advertised that the shelter would hold 1,500 people, this claim seems to be inaccurate, or incorrectly reported. This image shows a reunion being held at the shelter in Brookside. While there are certainly not 1,500 attendees, the group seems to be fairly large compared to the shelter.
The shelter house continued to serve at Brookside Park for several years when plans emerged for a larger replacement, a community house, for the park. This new structure, which still stands today and continues to be used, was designed by the architecture firm of Harrison & Turnock and was constructed in 1927-28.
When the original shelter house met its demise is not clear. The 1937 aerial image appears to show empty ground where the shelter once stood, although there may be a rough outline of the structure on the ground. However, a 1940 map of the park shows the shelter still in place, although at this point it was being used as a tool shed.
It is likely that the shelter was taken down sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s, and the site was likely graded and reworked in the years after. A master plan for the park from the 1990s included a gazebo on this site, although that was never constructed.
Sources
Indianapolis News: April 28, 1899, May 5, 1900, April 19, 1901, August 10, 1900, June 1, 1926, July 2, 1927
Indianapolis Journal: June 1, 1899
Report of the Board of Park Commissioners for 1915 - Indy Parks and Recreation - The Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections,
Report of the Board of Park Commissioners for 1899 - Indy Parks and Recreation - The Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections
Report of the Board of Park Commissioners for 1898 - Indy Parks and Recreation - The Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections,
Brookside Park, Shelter House (no Bass #) - W.H. Bass Photo Company--Pamela Tranfield Memorial Collection - Indiana Historical Society Digital Images, Brookside Park, Shelter House (no Bass #) - W.H. Bass Photo Company--Pamela Tranfield Memorial Collection - Indiana Historical Society Digital Images
Brookside Park early development, rustic shelter house drawings, Indianapolis Dept. of Parks and Recreation Landscape Architectural Drawings, Ball State University. University Libraries. Andrew Seager Archives of the Built Environment, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/IndplsPDArc/id/7425/rec/5
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