Veterans Memorial Plaza

Originally known as Obelisk Square, this park was completed in 1930 between the American Legion Mall and the Indiana World War Memorial. Its main feature is the Obelisk fountain, and this portion of the plaza was originally designed to serve as a venue for military parades and related civic events. Pairs of captured German artillery pieces once flanked each corner of the large open plaza. The Obelisk fountain, resembling the Washington Monument in the Mall in Washington, D.C., is centrally placed within the Indiana War Memorial Plaza as a symbol of hope and inspiration to the nation. The spire is 100 feet tall and is composed entirely of black Berwick granite, set within a two-tiered fountain accented with water-jets and colored lights. Over the years, some people suggested changing the name Obelisk Square because the general public was unaware of what an obelisk was. An initial suggestion was ignored, and when the idea was raised again in 1981, the War Memorials Commission voted not to change the name. After Joseph Brand, head of Brand Printing & Photo Litho Co., raised the matter in May 1982 at a War Memorials Commission meeting, the commission accepted written suggestions for the following month's meeting. Only three letters were submitted, two opposing a change and one supporting it, after which public name suggestions were taken. After 60 years of the name Obelisk Square, the new name became Veteran's Memorial Plaza, and the block is now recognized by both names, Obelisk Square and Veterans Memorial Plaza.

Indianapolis city (balance), Indiana · United States