Renovating and modernizing the neoclassical buildings at the Indiana War Memorial Plaza
The American Legion’s national headquarters was originally located on a five block plaza in Indianapolis, Indiana. Built entirely with Indiana limestone, the historic 777 N. Meridian building was included in the headquarters and renovated as part of an Indiana War Memorial Plaza development.
The redevelopment finished in early 2020 when the original American Legion National Headquarters building at 777 N. Meridian reopened as the Indiana Veterans Center.
Overview
- Project: Indiana Veteran’s Center
- Location: 777 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis
- Client: Indiana War Memorial and State of Indiana
- Project size: 34,000 SF
- Goal: Renovation and modernization
Creating a new space for the Indiana Veterans Center in a historic building
The larger War Memorial Plaza project, funded in part by the State of Indiana, introduced new ADA-accessible ramps, restrooms, elevators, and other modern amenities at 777 N. Meridian. The building is now also home to all divisions of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs.
R.E. Dimond and Associates was challenged to renovate and modernize this historic neoclassical structure with:
- Updated and energy efficient heating and air-conditioning
- Efficient lighting
- Resouce-saving plumbing
- Modern, scalable telecommunications to create centralized office space for Indiana’s Veteran Affairs organizations
Modernized to include energy-efficient heating, cooling, lighting, and more
To achieve the building’s goals, save taxpayers money, and set the building up for long-term success, our teams used innovative techniques and design solutions.
- The building utilizes steam and chilled water from Citizens Thermal Energy for building heating and cooling.
- Four-pipe fan coil units, piping, electrical and telecommunication systems were concealed in ceiling bulkheads to minimize necessary alterations to the historic building.
- Electrical design included new building electrical service and an integrated LED lighting control system for energy savings.
- Advanced technology networks provide security, video and intrusion surveillance of the building.
- The building also has a fully automatic sprinkler system.