INDIANAPOLIS -
Next month's Super Bowl will leave lasting changes on Indianapolis. One of the projects for the game is changing lives and a community.
After months of talk, signs of Super Bowl XLVI are starting to take shape downtown. From the patches of turf along Georgia Street to the temporary structures popping up all around Lucas Oil Stadium, the city is being transformed.
Each day there is something new as the city kicks it into high gear to be ready for the biggest thing to hit Indianapolis.
"On Thursday the 19th, Capitol will close so they can start setting up the zip line, a portion of South Street between Missouri and Capitol is going to close again, because they're constructing tents and doing different things," said Lisa Miser, Super Bowl Host Committee.
Long after the game is over and downtown returns to normal, a new chapter will just be beginning for those who will soon call an old schoolhouse home.
Just a few miles from the stadium, on the east side, a different kind of transformation is taking place, as a part of the legacy project and, on Saturday, the latest element known as The CommonWealth was dedicated.
"This is so phenomenal, because you have this mixed income facility bringing hope back into the community," said U.S. Rep. Andre Carson (D-Indiana).
The 32-unit apartment building has bloomed within the bones of the old Lucretia Mott Elementary School, featuring a gym which will play host to sports leagues for neighborhood children.
Ken Earl and Debbie Sluss both grew up in the neighborhood and went to the elementary school as children.
"They changed it quite a bit. It's great. A lot of people will benefit from this," Earl said.
Residents move into The CommonWealth beginning next week. The project is one of the first steps of the East Washington Street Vision Plan.
