INDIANAPOLIS— Monday morning, Harley Hall is cleaning up around Monument Circle.
"Mostly cigarette butts, lids, bottles cans," said Hall.
Hall is part of the Downtown Indy, Inc. Clean Team.
"One, I’m a proud veteran and I would do it again. I'm helping people and keeping the city clean, I’m proud of the city," said Hall.
Earlier this year, the City of Indianapolis invested $3.7 million into a pilot program focused on 365-day operations in the Mile Square. Downtown Indy, Inc. was able to increase the Street Team from 12 to 36 people and is responding to requests made by Downtown property owners within a 24-hour window. From Jan. to Sept. of this year, the Clean Team successfully removed just under 6,700 bags of trash from Downtown – an over 550% increase from the same year-over-year timeframe – totaling roughly 335,000 pounds.
"It was important In terms of our dialogue with the city and our stakeholders that we need to do better. We want people to come back to work, we want people to come back downtown and enjoy the vibrancy, the night life, we still want people to see us as we are iconic in terms of convention business, so collectively that was the impetus," said Tim Boruff, the VP of finance and operations for Downtown Indy, Inc.
With additional support and staffing, the Clean Teams have increased the number of vandalism cases responded to from Jan. to Sept. 2023 – accounting for both graffiti and stickers – reached over 5,400, a nearly 1,500% increase from 2022. The Clean Team’s capacity also allows for more Downtown businesses and properties to receive power washing services. Over 400 city blocks have been power-washed in 2023, a number that has more than doubled since 2022. Total hours worked for the Clean Team since Jan. 2023 currently sit at nearly 50,000.
"For me nowadays, I have to hunt and find things that my guys missed and graffiti. Before I didn’t have to hunt. It was slapping me in the face," said Richard Beckey, the supervisor for the Clean Team.
"I have noticed a big difference off and on," said Kim Nething, the owner of RocketFizz.
Nething says the push to clean up downtown has been positive for businesses, but she also wants them to focus on areas people can't see.
"For business owners when we get our deliveries in the back alley we want it to be as clean and kept up as possible and I would love to see that area as well taken care as our front area," said Nething.
