Looking for ideas for things to do with the kids? Indiana Landmarks offers three opportunities to explore Indianapolis heritage in 3D on guided tours, for free, on Fridays and Saturdays through October.
Discover Monument Circle on a guided walking tour that explores the physical and symbolic heart of the capital city, including Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center and the historic buildings that encircle it. The tour departs at 10 a.m. from South Bend Chocolate Company, 30 Monument Circle. Not only is the tour free, tour takers get a coupon for 10 percent off at the Chocolate Company. Don’t count on a tour if it’s raining cats and dogs though.
Last year, a $20 million restoration turned a vacant 1890s church into Indiana Landmarks Center. Stenciling, gilding, and colored lighting systems turned worship spaces into elegant theaters and reception halls. The tour traces the story of a landmark that once ranked as the state’s largest Methodist church, and the people and changes that revitalized it as a cultural center. Tours begin at noon in the lobby of Indiana Landmarks Center, 1201 Central Avenue.
The Morris-Butler House forced a highway to move. Rather than take a straight course that would have demolished the landmark, the interstate curved to avoid the three-story house. Built in 1865, the house was restored in the Victorian fashion in the 1960s. Tours of the towered house at 1204 North Park Avenue (immediately east of Indiana Landmarks Center) begin at 1 and 2 p.m.
The free tours are timed to allow visitors to take all three tours in a single day. Reservations are not required except for groups of 10 or more.
Indiana Landmarks also offers the three tours, and other city walking tours, for $5/person with a $50 minimum charge on a day and time of your choosing. For more information, contact Gwendolen Raley, Museum and Heritage Tourism Director, at tourism@indianalandmarks.org or at 317-636-5409.
For more information, visit www.indianalandmarks.org.
