INDIANAPOLIS — It’s one of the most ambitious development projects in the history of Indianapolis — the Bottleworks District.
The former Coca-Cola plant is also the newest winner of a top restoration prize, Indiana Landmarks’ Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration.
Every year, Storytelling Arts of Indiana highlights the winning property as a part of the ‘If These Walls Could Tell’ series.
Storyteller Celestine Bloomfield says she’ll never forget the moment she walked into the building in 1977.
“I spun around and looked at all the colorful tiles, woodwork, the majestic staircase that went up and I thought to myself. This is an awfully fancy building for the service center. I didn’t get a chance to explore that any more, until decades later, in my retirement when I got to find out the history of the Bottleworks Hotel," Bloomfield said.
What is that history?
Well, Bloomfield says it all started with brothers, James and Lee Yuncker, who decided to start bottling Coca-Cola at their ginger-ale plant in 1931.
In the 30s, 40s, 50s, the gleaming white terra-cotta façade, bronze storefronts, terrazzo flooring, and boldly tiled walls became a showpiece for Indianapolis.
“It was built right during the Great Depression. People wondered how he spent that much money. Part of the reason was that he wanted his employees to know that it would be alright. Coca Cola was a new brand. It was building. The plant only grew," Bloomfield said.
The plant produced over 2 million bottles of soda per week and employed roughly 300 people.
Longtime Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman purchases the property in 1964.
But with the increased popularity of aluminum in the 1960s, bottling coke became a thing of the past.
Hulman moved operations to Speedway, and the Mass Ave facility functioned as storage for his vintage cars.
“Bottles were passé. They invented cans. So he had to move the plant from downtown," Bloomfield said.
Indianapolis Public Schools bought the property in the late 1960s, where it functioned as a service center, storage and bus depot for roughly 50 years.
“They maintained it. Kept it water tight. Actually covered up a lot of the original details of the building, which for us was a huge benefit. It was basically entombed," Vice President of Development for Hendricks Commercial Properties Gavin Thomas said.
In 2016, Hendricks Commercial Properties began a $300 million redevelopment of the Bottleworks District.
Doors opened late 2020.
Thomas says preserving historical buildings helps us understand who we are as a city.
“You can see this progression of people and society and whatever time period they lived in here in Indianapolis. It’s there. It’s becomes a part of the mosaic of the community. It informs you about the place that you live in. What makes this place special. Why did people move here originally. Incrementally, each generation adds to that," Thomas said.
If you would like to hear a more in-depth version of Bottleworks story, you can attend a live performance of 'If These Walls Could Tell: Bottleworks Hotel' starting at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 3 at the Indiana Landmarks Center.
