INDIANAPOLIS — Business owners in the Broad Ripple Village are trying to do something about the well-known neighborhood’s reputation.
Over the last few years, a few violent incidents and construction have pushed out the former crowds and eroded visitors’ feelings of safety.
To fight back, owners and managers of Broad Ripple bars meet every month with IMPD. Wednesday morning, the monthly meeting was at Kilroy’s Bar N’ Grill on Broad Ripple Ave. Jade Sharpe, the Director of Operations at Kilroy’s, said the group discusses a little bit of everything.
“Upcoming events, any issues we have seen or want to prevent, any changes throughout the strip,” Sharpe said.
In Sharpe’s 14 years with Kilroy’s, she said she’s never seen this level of collaboration between business owners who are still competitors.
”This is something new for all of us,” she said. “To be in the same place, at the same time and open to having these conversations.”
Many of these business owners don’t see any other option than working together, they’re willing to do whatever to bring people back to the village. The last few years have not been kind to Patrick Sparks, the owner of Brick House Dueling Pianos.
”It’s cost me, as of today, in the last year and a half, $350,000 out of my savings account,” Sparks said.
The meetings with IMPD and bar owners started after a June 2023 triple homicide in Broad Ripple. At the time, the avenue was under heavy construction. Something bar owners said made it harder for police to do their job.
In the months after, some bars agreed to close early, sacrificing much-needed dollars in favor of promoting safety.
IMPD also increased its presence in the village, something they have continued to do. Police also added cameras and lights and blocked off parking lots that were being used as hangout areas for people late into the night.
North District Commander Matthew Thomas said these meetings are a chance for police to listen and learn.
”We’re hearing from the business owners who are hearing from their customers about what they expect from IMPD in the village,” Thomas said.
Thomas and these bar owners feel like the work is paying off.
”Last weekend was a great weekend,” Sharpe said. “We had a huge bar crawl. Had a lot of faces come through that we hadn’t seen in a while.”
Sparks agreed, saying it was the best weekend for Brick House since March when another scary incident frightened people away from Broad Ripple.
In March, a shooting inside Landsharks on Broad Ripple Avenue killed one and hurt five others. One man was arrested in the shooting.
Landsharks hasn’t opened its doors since that weekend. The building is now empty and the sign of the longtime bar isn’t up anymore.
It is another empty storefront, but there are others filling up. Across from the former Landsharks, a new consignment shop has opened. In the space formerly occupied by Rise’n Roll, a new juice bar has opened.
For the bar owners, it’s a sign of momentum returning in the avenue. They don’t just believe in it, but are doubling down. Kilroy’s is spending thousands to upgrade its outdoor patio to create a cleaner space for live music, something Broad Ripple has long been known for.
”Really gearing toward getting it back to the patios, the live music, the feel that it used to have,” Sharpe said.
Michael Cranfill said he believes Broad Ripple can return to its former glory. He’s owned Cholita, a restaurant in the village, for the past six years. Last May, he and his business partners, opened up a new restaurant and bar in a building that had been empty for three years.
”Broad Ripple is back open,” Cranfill said. “It’s better than ever. Our sidewalks are twice the size they used to be, got great new street lights and lamps and we’re back open for business.”
Together, Cranfill said the bars are working together to bring people back.
”We’re going on the offensive and starting a massive ad campaign to start promoting really all of the great bar and restaurant and happy hour specials that we all have,” he said.
Cranfill, Sharpe, Sparks and their fellow bar and restaurant owners are hopeful people notice the work they’re doing.
”This village loves each other, it loves others and, you know, it’s time to share that message again and get that love out there that Broad Ripple has always had,” Cranfill said.
