Citizens' employees and partners donated volunteer effort and $300,000 in renovations to upgrade the southeast-side park facilities this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend.
INDIANAPOLIS – Citizens Energy Group and a coalition of partners worked to renovate the community center and the pool house at Stanley Strader Park (formerly Bethel Park) this weekend as part of Citizens’ 16th annual Sharing the Dream project. Sharing the Dream is a multi-day community service project honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which gives Citizens employees a chance to serve Central Indiana neighborhoods. Nearly 250 employee volunteers collectively donated hundreds of hours of their time during the two-day event Thursday and Friday. Citizens and more than 30 partners this year also contributed $300,000, either monetarily or with in-kind donations, to upgrade the facilities’ buildings and equipment.
On Monday, January 15, Indy Parks reopened the newly updated community center at Stanley Strader Park for an open house giving the public a chance to tour the facility and its improvements.
Pictures from the weekend's events are at the bottom of this release, and a recap video is linked here.
“This is the 16th time we’ve joined you to celebrate the renovations to a Sharing the Dream public parks project,” Citizens President & CEO Jeffrey Harrison said at Monday’s open house event. “I want to thank our employees and our partners; and I think it’s a testament to our close working relationship with Indy Parks and The Parks Alliance that we get to continue this important work each year.”
Improvements to the park’s community center included upgrades for a more efficient reception desk and more welcoming lobby area; new furniture and cabinets in the multipurpose room; new ventilation and appliances for the community pantry area; fresh paint and deep cleaning in the restrooms; a reorganized game room and fitness center; a newly painted mural in the gymnasium; and the operational repair of the gym’s rolling bleachers and score boards. Upgrades in the park’s pool house included completely ground and newly epoxied floors; updates to leaky plumbing equipment and bathroom accessories; new shower heads in ADA-compliant accessible showers; new LED lighting fixtures throughout; and new sinks, shelving, countertops and coolers in the concession stand.
“We thank Citizens Energy Group and their partners for the work to revitalize this beloved Indianapolis city park,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett. “Combined with our ongoing renovation of the football field, the newly renamed Stanley Strader Park is currently receiving a total investment of more than a million dollars in renovations, reflecting the central importance of this public space.”
About Sharing the Dream:
Sharing the Dream is an annual service project to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Citizens has donated more than $3.8 million during Sharing the Dream projects over the past 16 years for improvements to various Indy Parks facilities, including Watkins Park Family Center; Frederick Douglass Park Family Center, golf course clubhouse, and pool house; Brookside Park Family Center; Martin Luther King, Jr. Park pool and bathhouse; Pride Park Community Center; Municipal Gardens; Eagle Creek Hide-A-Way; Perry Park’s Ice Arena; Thatcher Park; Krannert Park; Garfield Park; Riverside Park; and—most recently in 2023—Ellenberger Park.
About This Year’s Partners:
Citizens Energy Group thanks its many partners for their efforts to make Sharing the Dream a successful event this year, especially The Parks Alliance of Indianapolis, Mitsch Design, Peine Engineering, and Powers & Sons Construction Company. Other partners include: A All Star Garage Doors; AAA Roofing; A.G. Maas; BEC; Chisholm Lumber & Millwork; Clark Truck Equipment Co., Inc.; Connor Fine Painting; CVR; Denney Companies; Ecore International; Energy Plus Credit Union; Eubanks Fencing; Fluid Waste Services; Grainger; Greene’s Auto & Truck Service; Indy Soft Water; MacAllister Machinery & Rentals; McGath Concrete; Mainscape, Inc.; Marsha's Specialty Desserts & Tierney's Catering; MET Construction, LLC; Mitsch Design; Peine Engineering; Powers & Sons Construction Company; Pulse Electric; Refined Restoration; Solace Risk Management; Springfield Electric; SSI Services; Superior Carpet Installers; Tayco Office Furnishings; and Wagner Signs.
About Citizens Energy Group
Citizens Energy Group provides safe and reliable utility services to about 900,000 people in the Indianapolis area. Citizens operates its utilities for the benefit of customers and the community.
Media Contact Information
Ben Easley
Phone: 317-519-1515
Email: media@citizensenergygroup.com