| The Idle | |
|---|---|
 The Idle in 2022 | |
    | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Motto | "The Idle - A Point of View" |
| Location | Fletcher Place and Fountain Square, Indianapolis |
| Coordinates | 39°45′20″N86°08′38″W / 39.75556°N 86.14389°W |
| Opened | September 2018 |
| Founder | Tom Battista |
| Operated by | Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. [1] |
| Cost | $89,462 [2] |
| Website | www.idleindy.com |
The Idle is a public park overlooking the I-65 and I-70 interstate interchanges in Indianapolis, Indiana. [3] The park is located right off the Indianapolis Cultural Trail on Virginia Avenue, directly in-between the city's Fletcher Place and Fountain Square neighborhoods, [4] which themselves are geographically separated by I-65. [5]
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The concept behind The Idle was conceived in 2013, [2] through the vision of Tom Battista, a local Indianapolis property developer and entrepreneur. [6] It was partially funded through Patronicity, a crowdfunding website which raised $48,462. [5] Through a match, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority had contributed an additional $41,000. [2] Since the park is located on federal highway land, its creation required cooperation between the Federal Highway Administration, the Indiana Department of Transportation, and the Indianapolis Department of Public Works. [5]
The park features an accessible limestone trail leading to a viewing platform, which is furnished with seats salvaged from the city's former Bush Stadium. [4] It also features native vegetation, repurposed ash tree benches, as well as informative signage explaining the area's history and concept behind the project. [5]
