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The hospital building on Cold Spring Road was first built as the U.S. Veterans Administration Hospital.
Courtesy of The Indiana Album Joan Hostetler CollectionA historic building near Marian University’s campus that once housed a psychiatric hospital will be repurposed for a neighborhood education initiative.
The site of the Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital has been unoccupied since 2019, when the hospital was replaced by the Neuro-Diagnostic Institute next to Community Hospital East.
Cold Spring Innovation Corporation, a 501c3 supporting organization of Marian University, has owned the 69,000 square foot building since late 2024 when they took ownership from the state.
The old hospital building will be used for Marian’s Riverside Education Innovation District initiative, or REID, a new plan to improve education in the near northwest neighborhood of Indianapolis — north to south from 38th Street to 16th Street, and east to west from Kessler Boulevard Drive to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.
When renovation is finished, the building will house K-12 outreach programs and office space for community partners.
Lee Ann Kwiatkowski, vice president of Marian’s Klipsch Educators College, said improving educational attainment helps revitalize neighborhoods.
“When I say we'll lift the entire community, that's really what we envision to make happen with this,” Kwiatkowski said. “We want people to be able to thrive, and we know education can really play a part with that.”
REID will provide literacy initiatives, adult education, and act as a hub for community education initiatives.
Diane Wade, director of community engagement and marketing, said the renovation of the historic building is a main pillar of the project.
“This neighborhood is where we call home, and it is part of our mission to make sure that we take the resources we have and we share them with our neighbors,” Wade said.
The renovation is funded by a Lilly Endowment college and community collaboration grant. It is expected to be finished in the next two years.
Contact WFYI education reporter Sydney Dauphinais at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.
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