Indiana Landmarks is America's largest private statewide historic preservation organization. Founded in 1960 as Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana by a volunteer group of civic and business leaders led by Indianapolis pharmaceutical executive Eli Lilly, the organization is a private non-governmental organization with nearly 6,000 members.[2] At the end of 2023, an independent auditor reported a total endowment of 67.8 million for the organization.[3] The organization simplified its name to Indiana Landmarks in 2010.[citation needed]
Indiana Landmarks owns and restores historic buildings, buys and sells vacant and endangered property, and helps people throughout Indiana save and restore historic places through a variety of programs including grants, loans, and advocacy.
Indiana Landmarks employs staff at its state headquarters in Indianapolis and in regional offices throughout the state of Indiana. Regional offices are located in South Bend, Gary, New Albany, Aurora, Evansville, Cambridge City, Wabash, and Terre Haute. The organization's state headquarters are located at the former Central Avenue United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, now known as Indiana Landmarks Center. In addition to Indiana Landmarks Center, Indiana Landmarks owns and operates two historic properties as event and rental venues: the Morris-Butler House in Indianapolis and Veraestau historic site in Aurora, Indiana. Landmarks' honorary board chair is Indiana's former Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard.[2] The organization's first project was restoration of the 1865 Morris-Butler House in Indianapolis. Eli Lilly personally underwrote the acquisition and restoration of the house as a museum of Victorian decorative arts. Though the Morris-Butler House no longer operates as a museum, it is part of the Indiana Landmarks Center campus and functions as an event and rental facility.[citation needed]
One of Indiana Landmarks' largest projects was the $30 million+ restoration of the West Baden Springs Hotel's exterior and public spaces. Indiana Landmarks helped lead the effort to bring riverboat gaming to Orange County, Indiana, as a way to revitalize the French Lick Resort Casino and the West Baden Springs Hotel.[citation needed]
In April 2010, in conjunction with the organization's 50th anniversary, Indiana Landmarks announced its name change from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. At the same time, it announced that medical device entrepreneur Bill Cook and his wife, Gayle had pledged $17 million to renovate the former Central Avenue United Methodist Church at 12th Street and Central Avenue in the Old Northside Historic District of Indianapolis as a performance space and new headquarters for the organization, to be known as Indiana Landmarks Center.[citation needed]
Each May (National Historic Preservation Month), Indiana Landmarks announces a list of the state's 10 Most Endangered landmarks. Circumstances that cause properties to be named to the list generally involve one or more of the following factors: demolition threat, abandonment, neglectful owner, dilapidation, obsolete use, lack of money for repairs, unreasonable above-market sale price, out-of-the-way location, or encroaching sprawl. Indiana Landmarks uses the 10 Most Endangered list to bring public attention to the imperiled sites and mobilize support for their preservation.[citation needed]
Indiana Landmarks issues several annual awards, including:
Together with the Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Landmarks co-sponsors the John Arnold Rural Preservation Award.[13]
