Before its centennial anniversary next year, the Madam Walker Legacy Center on Feb. 4 unveiled plans to finish a new $1.2 million rooftop venue this spring that will overlook the cityscape.
The center held what it called a “sky-breaking” as it gets ready to begin construction. The new venue will be the next step in the culmination of multi-year plans to raise the profile of the National Historic Landmark building. The renovation aims to revitalize the center as a nonprofit venue and community gathering space that remains a bastion of Black culture in a district that has seen so many of those mainstays disappear.
The rooftop expansion is “an additional gathering spot. It’s an additional opportunity for community and culture to come together in a unique way,” Nichole Wilson, Madam Walker Legacy Center Board Chair, told IndyStar after the news conference announcing the sky-breaking.
The space will open April 30 or May 1, and the grand opening will be on Juneteenth (June 19) for the Walker’s 2026 Legacy Fest, which will include a benefit concert headlined by Teddy Riley & Friends. Construction will begin on top of the building at 617 Indiana Ave. as soon as the frigid weather eases up, said Kristian Little Stricklen, the center’s president and CEO.
Some had expressed concerns that one of the center’s new neighbors, the 501 Indiana Ave. development, would block the rooftop view. 501 Indiana Ave., a partnership between Arrow Street Development and Chatham Park Development, will be a 12-story residential building that will largely house Purdue University students in Indianapolis.
Stricklen said the new neighbor would not be a visual detriment since the rooftop view will be from the Indiana Avenue side of the center and the new development is southeast of the Walker.
“If it does (obstruct a view), then the only thing it would be obstructing is One America,” Stricklen told IndyStar after the news conference. “We’ll still be able to see the Statehouse and down into downtown.”
Funding sources for the rooftop expansion include $600,000 from the New York-based Mellon Foundation, $250,000 from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and $100,000 from the Nicholas H. Noyes Jr. Memorial Foundation, Stricklen said.
New rooftop venue is latest of many investments in Walker center
The additional venue space also will be available to rent, providing another stream of revenue for a center that has recently committed millions to building upgrades and a new endowment.
In 2021, the center unveiled $15 million in renovations funded by the Lilly Endowment. Those included new light strips, expanded wheelchair access, a new curtain for the stage, Wi-Fi accessibility, additional audio-visual capabilities and a new sound booth.
Two years later, the center released a strategic plan that will guide it into its 100th year in 2027. Integral to that was the rooftop venue and plans to create an endowment. In order to bring the latter to fruition, the Madam Walker sold two of its nearby properties, Stricklen said. Indiana University Foundation bought the 719 Indiana Ave. parcel, and Arrow Street purchased the the 501 Indiana Ave. parcel.
Those two sales fueled a new $8 million endowment, which the center announced in January, Wilson said. While selling the properties was a difficult decision, she said, the endowment will preserve and sustain what she called the “main gem of Indiana Avenue.”
“A couple of us were on the board when the Madam Walker Legacy Center did not appear to have a sustainable future,” Wilson told IndyStar after the news conference.
“The building was dilapidated, we had floods in the basement, and it was looking like this organization and the building was on path to what we see (for) other Black historic organizations who have had to close their doors. And we did not want that for Madam Walker.”
Rooftop is intended to increase tourism and pedestrian traffic
Outside the Madam Walker, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail’s new expansion along Indiana Avenue helps pedestrians and cyclists navigate the busy intersection at 10th Street. The expansion opened in 2024, and speakers along a portion of the trail play music that’s tied to the avenue’s rich history of Black musicians and music clubs.
The addition helps the Walker showcase the area’s history. The center marks the legacy of Madam C.J. Walker, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and civil rights advocate who amassed a fortune after planting her hair-care empire in Indianapolis. The Walker building was designed to serve the Black community and opened in 1927, eight years after Walker’s death.
Tourists have long been eager to learn more about the story and tour the building, said Chris Gahl, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Visit Indy, after the news conference.
“Year-round, visitors globally, deliberately seek out information about the Madam Walker Legacy Center. They want to know how they can plug in to take a tour, see a performance and learn about the history and the architecture,” Gahl said. “This gives us another important and timely place and space to point visitors (to).”
Visit madamwalkerlegacycenter.com to see the schedule of events and updates on the rooftop venue.
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Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Sign up here for the newsletter she curates about things to do and ways to explore Indianapolis. Find her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Madam Walker center will open new rooftop venue this spring
Reporting by Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
