If you got here from the Map page, Congratulations! You get an "A" on your community geography quiz!
Keep coming back to watch for new developments.

                                                                                                           Crooked Creek Community
                                                                                                                Juan Solomon Park

The need for a community park for the Crooked Creek community became apparent in 1969. On July 15, 1969, C4 began a dialog with the Park Department to address this need. After extensive community involvement, C4 worked tirelessly to address the need for a recreational park for the youth of our community. Several sites were under consideration, with the present location of Juan Solomon Park in Washington Township at 6100 Grandview Drive was agreed upon by the Park Department and the Crooked Creek community. -The varied topography is evident from this photo which was taken from a 15 foot cut bank above Crooked Creek.

The initial proposal for the present park site included an additional twenty-two acres of land south of Crooked Creek and adjacent to the park. The Indianapolis Parks Department did not have sufficient funds to secure the additional property at that time. The addition of this adjacent property continued to be a primary goal, as does improvements to the Park.

On July 10, 1975, the Department of Parks and Recreation adopted Special Resolution #13 officially naming the park Juan C. Solomon Park, a Crooked Creek Community Project, recognizing C4 as the driving force behind the development of the park. The Crooked Creek community park was dedicated on September 28, 1975.

Expansion of Crooked Creek Community Juan Solomon Park

C4 adopted Friends of Juan Solomon Park (FJSP) as a special project to improve and expand the existing park in March, 1994. Our plans included expanding the park by twenty-two acres south of and adjacent to the park. With the creation of the Indianapolis Greenway Project and the need for additional alternative activities for the youth in our community, FJSP promoted a unique alliance of community organizations, private business, not-for-profit organizations and the local government to provide needed recreational opportunities for youth development.

C4’s Juan Solomon Park Phase I (expansion) was a solution based alternative to inappropriate development of this central Indiana riparian corridor. This project is vital to the Crooked Creek Community as a centerpiece of our community. The preservation of this site is important to Washington Township, which has the fewest park acres and park acres to population ratio of any township in the city. This project benefits the entire Indianapolis community by providing conservation, recreation, restoration and protection of native biological diversity within the city limits of Indianapolis, Indiana. This project expands Juan Solomon Park from 23.84 to a total of 45 + acres. This preservation project will be the first leg of the Crooked Creek Greenway segment of the Indianapolis Greenways Plan. This is the first project that the Indiana Heritage Trust (funded by sales of environment license plates) has supported in Marion County. FJSP Phase I was awarded the "1996 National Neighborhood of the Year Award" by Neighborhoods USA, which sponsors the only national award recognizing self-help community initiatives. This project also was awarded Indy Parks' "1995 Best Partner Award," third place in A Monumental Affair's "Mayor's 1995 Neighborhood Award," Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center's "1996 Neighborhood Achievement Award," and the Neighborhoods USA's "1996 National Neighborhood of the Year Award."

The expansion of the park maintains this exceptional natural resource for future generations to enjoy. Additional considerations center on the ecological preservation of Crooked Creek. Inappropriate development would have had a negative environmental impact including increased flooding problems due to rain water run-off, an increase of sediment entering the creek and limiting the options to preserve the Crooked Creek watershed and efforts to decrease flooding. The area included in the expansion of the adjacent park is heavily wooded, encompasses a segment of Crooked Creek, the Crooked Creek water shed, a portion of the flood plain, as well as high lands above the flood plain. This area is heavily populated by various species of wildlife.

FJSP project continues with Phase II (improvements) with the goal of raising $700,000 over three years (June, 1996 to June, 1999) to create the first leg of the Crooked Creek Greenway, a bridge over Crooked Creek, a scenic overlooks new and improved playgrounds and picnic shelters, resurfacing of the tennis courts and parking lot, creation of the Crooked Creek Nature Center and creation of a "Donors Plaza" to recognize all contributors to the FJSP project. To date $120,000 has been raised, with $273,000 pending.

Brief History of Juan Solomon

Juan C. Solomon was an employee of Eli Lilly and Company, joining the company in 1941 and rising through the ranks of the corporate structure for thirty-two years. Mr. Solomon held various positions, including Personnel Manager and Community Relations Manager. In 1968, Eli Lilly and Company loaned Mr. Solomon to the City of Indianapolis to organize and lead the Mayor’s Task Force on Employment. Over a three-year period, Mayor Lugar’s Task Force evolved into the Metropolitan Manpower Commission, which was responsible for stimulating the business community to hire the hard-core unemployed. Through five principle programs and two related organizations, Mr. Solomon’s leadership is credited with training and placing over 4,000 culturally deprived men and women in good jobs with a decent wage.

Juan Solomon was the recipient of the Good American Award and the Good Government Award. He was involved in numerous organizations, including the Governor’s Commission for the Handicapped, the Community Service Council, the Indianapolis Urban League, the Marion County Association for Retarded Children, Public Action in Correctional Efforts (PACE), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation, the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce as well as an Elder at Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church. Mr. Solomon was a long-time resident of the Crooked Creek community, where his wife, Eloise, still resides.