Fort Benjamin Harrison: From Military Base to Indiana State Park

Abstract

For nearly a hundred years, Fort Benjamin Harrison served as an epicenter of training and organization for United States Army in Indianapolis, Indiana. However, budget cuts pushed the U.S. Congress to close Fort Harrison under the Defense Base Re-Alignment and Closure Act of 1991. Over the following five years, the U.S. federal government, various Indiana state agencies, city governments of Indianapolis and Lawrence, and citizen advocacy groups worked together to develop a reuse plan for the former military base. Succinct planning and compromises allowed 70 percent of the former military base to be converted into an Indiana state park. Over the lifetime of the base a variety of factors resulted in the unintended creation of the largest noncontiguous forest in Central Indiana ---an area perfectly suited as an Indiana state park. As Fort Benjamin Harrison enters its second decade as a state park, park staff must reevaluate the park’s military past and its effects on the land as it is today. This thesis examines the transitional years between the closure of the base and opening of the park, analyzes current interpretive practices at the park, and provides new suggestions for future public programming and interpretive practices.