Aerial View of Lockefield Gardens

Description:	Lockefield Gardens, opened in 1938, was the first large-scale public housing project in Indianapolis and was built to help clear slum housing and offer low-rent accommodations to the areas African American residents. Lockefield Gardens was located between Indiana Avenue and Blake, North, and Locke Streets. Prior to construction, approximately 363 residential structures were demolished. Designed by the architectural firm Russ and Harrison, the complex was constructed between 1935-1938 with funds from the federal Public Works Administration and consisted of 24 buildings on 22 acres of land. In addition to apartment buildings, Lockefield Gardens also featured a central green space, playgrounds, a small shopping arcade, and the existing William D. McCoy Public School #24. Lockefield Gardens remained central to the African American community until the 1950s when new housing options became available in traditionally white residential areas. In the 1970s, the apartment complex closed but was reopened in the 1980s and underwent renovations. During these renovations, seventeen of the original buildings were demolished primarily for the expansion of the IUPUI campus. The seven remaining structures, located along Blake Street, were joined by eleven new buildings. The current Lockefield Gardens apartment complex is bounded by Indiana Avenue, University Boulevard, and North and Blackford Streets.
Origin:	circa 1937
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16066coll13/id/2125
Collection:	Indiana State Library Photograph Collections
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Geography:	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Subjects:	Marion County (Ind.) Indianapolis (Ind.) photographs buildings streets city life Lockefield Gardens (Apartment house : Indianapolis, Ind.)

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