Jeffrey Harrison, President & CEO of Citizens Energy Group, joined Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and other community leaders on July 12 to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new Community Justice Center campus on the site of Citizens former coke and manufactured gas plant on Prospect Street.
The city acquired the 140 acres of property, known as Pleasant Run Crossing, from the city earlier this year. The campus will include a jail, courthouse, sheriff’s office, and an assessment and intervention center that will provide mental health services.
Mayor Hogsett heralded the groundbreaking saying, “the seeds of our holistic criminal justice reform have been planted at one location, in one neighborhood."
Harrison said, “Today marks a fresh start for the economic future of the southeast side. As someone who spent more than three years working at our Prospect Street plant, I am personally gratified to see this site again positioned to lead an economic revival for the Southeast Side.”
Longtime resident and President of the Twin Aire Neighborhood Coalition Brenda McAtee said the development is an opportunity for her community. “This side of the city has been forgotten," she said. "Now, you can wake up and see a lot of beautification. It’s going to help the youth to see that history is here and things do change.”
The city selected the site in January 2017, and the City-County Council approved $20 million to plan and design the campus in July of that year. Construction on the $570 million campus is expected to be completed in 2022.
