[IndianaTrails] origins of the Cultural Trail

[Kevin Heber]

This is an excellent article from the IBJ on the origins of the  
Cultural Trail.  Congrats to Brian Payne on all the progress and  
receiving the 2007 Michael A. Carroll Award.

http://cms.ibj.com/ASPXPages/6iframes/FrontEndArticlesDetailPage.aspx?ArticleID=07177&NoFrame=1

True trailblazer
Payne paved way for Cultural Trail project
Sat. November 03 - 2007

To understand the uniqueness of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail not  
just to Indiana but to the country, it might be helpful to consider an  
outsider?s opinion: ?It?s an idea that is so radical as far as civic  
transportation goes that it sounds a little crazy,? wrote travel  
writer Robert Sullivan in the November 2006 issue of dwell, a San  
Francisco-based modern living magazine.

If the idea of building a $50 million, 7-1/2-mile pedestrian and  
biking trail through the streets of downtown Indianapolis is indeed  
crazy, Brian Payne might be considered the trail?s mad scientist.

His leadership, persistence and passion for the project are the key  
reasons the first leg of the trail is due to open this month along  
Alabama Street, said some of the many people Payne has enlisted for  
support in the monumental undertaking.

They are also the reasons Payne, president of the Central Indiana  
Community Foundation and the Indianapolis Foundation, is this year?s  
winner of IBJ?s Michael Carroll Award, given annually to a man or  
woman who embodies the former deputy mayor?s determination, devotion,  
humility and dedication to the community.

In heading the cause for the Cultural Trail, Payne, 48, has been its  
chief cheerleader, fund-raiser and tour guide.

Although he wasn?t a bicyclist when he came up with the idea in 2001,  
Payne since has given innumerable bike tours of the trail?s planned  
path, urging officials, potential donors and other interested parties  
to climb on a bike. Just in case they balk, however, Payne also has a  
backup plan?two Segways stashed in his office.

Payne, a California native who moved here in 1993, said he views the  
Cultural Trail not only as his biggest and most creative professional  
undertaking, but also as a lasting contribution to his adopted  
hometown. By creating a public space like the trail, he said, people  
have more incentive to live, work and play downtown, and to frequent  
its cultural attractions and businesses.

?I believe [the Cultural Trail] is going to transform the way people  
think about Indianapolis, both those who live here and those who  
visit,? Payne said. ?The rest of the country is going to say, ?Wow,  
what the heck is going on in Indianapolis???

Blissful ignorance

For his part, Payne admits to some degree of ignorance of the Cultural  
Trail?s chances more than six years ago when he began shopping the  
idea of a trail to link Indianapolis? downtown neighborhoods.

?I thought it sounded really easy?to just go build a trail,? Payne  
said. ?I?ve been told many times since that it?s the most complex city  
construction project there?s ever been.?

Early on, when Payne was telling everyone who would listen about the  
idea, he said he also probably mistook politeness of his listeners for  
enthusiasm, a view confirmed by several of those who took part in the  
conversations.

?I, as any reasonable person would have, dismissed the idea as  
interesting, but unfeasible,? said Brian Sullivan, executive vice  
president of Shiel Sexton Co. Inc.

Sullivan is now one of a legion of corporate supporters who have  
jumped onto the Cultural Trail bandwagon, lured by the potential of  
the trail not only as a unique amenity for residents and visitors, but  
also as a way to boost Indianapolis? reputation across the country and  
beyond. Sullivan said he watched as Payne doggedly built momentum for  
the trail, one person at a time.

?It was a remarkable thing to witness,? he said.

In little more than six years, the Cultural Trail has progressed from  
a ?crazy? idea to a reality that kicked off construction in April  
steps away from Payne?s office on North Alabama Street. Of the $50  
million needed for the trail, nearly $40.4 million has been raised  
from private individuals, foundations and federal transportation  
funds. In homage to its largest donors, of $15 million, the trail?s  
official name is the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene &  
Marilyn Glick.

The earliest funds came from those Payne calls the trail?s ?venture  
capitalists?: the Lumina Foundation, the Efroymson Family Fund,  
philanthropist Myrta Pulliam and the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable  
Trust, who chipped in the first few million to conduct feasibility  
studies and other pre-design needs before the Cultural Trail was  
anything but a sure bet.

One of those early funders, Lori Efroymson-Aguilera, recalled  
visualizing the trail?s potential on one of Payne?s guided bike  
tours?which, she said, she reluctantly agreed to.

?He had to prod me a little,? she said. ?But I realized how really  
great an idea it was. ? We went past all the major pieces of downtown.  
The trail capitalizes on what?s already there.?

Leveraging contacts made at CICF and at his previous job as managing  
director of Indiana Repertory Theatre, Payne also enlisted corporate  
heavyweights such as Eli Lilly and Co. President John Lechleiter and  
LDI Ltd. Chairman Andre Lacy to spread the Cultural Trail gospel in  
the city?s business community.

In the meantime, Payne led the process of winning the city?s approval  
to build the trail. Although city officials were supportive of the  
idea, they had to be convinced the trail?s benefits would outweigh the  
construction, engineering and traffic challenges, a process that took  
three years of public meetings and feasibility studies.

Once city approval came, the local office of Muncie-based Rundell  
Ernstberger Associates LLC was selected in early 2006 as lead designer  
of the project, and the Cultural Trail shifted into high gear.

In April, less than a year after initial designs were unveiled,  
construction began. From the beginning, said Rundell Ernstberger  
principal Kevin Osburn, Payne and city leaders pushed to get the first  
section of the trail started as soon as possible, to serve as  
something of a ?model home? for future legs.

The accelerated time line was possible in large part because of the  
project?s widespread support, Osburn said, crediting Payne?s  
contagious enthusiasm.

?I?ve never been involved in a project that has had such an  
overwhelmingly positive response, not just from the general public,  
but from the people who are directly involved,? Osburn said. ?I think  
a large part of that is because of the planning work that went into  
this beforehand. Everyone?s made every effort to explain what the  
project is about. It?s never been a mystery, and when people ask a  
question, they always get an answer.?

Part of the job

While the first pavers are falling into place, Payne and the rest of  
the trail?s management team are focusing on raising the remaining $9.6  
million and planning the path and design of the trail?s future four  
phases.

It?s a job Payne works in around the other obligations of overseeing  
CICF and its $650 million in assets. Staff has taken over some of his  
responsibilities, and Payne said he has had to resign from some boards  
and committees he formerly served on.

He credits CICF?s board for its support in allowing him to devote so  
much time to the Cultural Trail, the centerpiece of CICF?s Inspiring  
Places initiative, which focuses on fostering development of public  
spaces, including parks and other green space.

So far, Payne hasn?t neglected other aspects of the foundation, said  
Myrta Pulliam, an early Cultural Trail donor who later joined the CICF  
board. She said she and other directors are sensitive to that  
possibility, but also realize the benefits of having Payne lead such a  
high-profile effort.

?It?s made CICF?s profile higher,? Pulliam said.

That, in turn, creates the potential for more donors to create  
philanthropic funds or support CICF?s Inspiring Places and Family  
Success initiatives, she said.

Payne said he looks forward to delving into other community-minded  
projects when the Cultural Trail is closer to being wrapped up.  
Although he doesn?t yet know what?s next, he said he sees a plethora  
of opportunities.

?I think [the Cultural Trail] will be a defining part of my career,?  
Payne said. ?It?s definitely a significant, incredibly enjoyable part.  
But I?m not looking for it to be the end of my career.? ?