To accommodate the need for low-income housing in Indianapolis in the late 1940s, the city hired architects Joseph Lloyd Allen (1897-1975) and John Kelley (1902-1991) to design a 50-acre housing project located at the corner of 38th Street and Rural Avenue. The firm of Allen & Kelley created the streamlined Meadowbrooks Apartments--with 620 units in a total of 36 buildings spread across the site. Each building was two stories, with glass block windows and a unique, modern front door inset with three small windows. The firm lists the project cost at six million dollars.
Photographs from an Indianapolis Star newspaper story depict a couple receiving the keys to their new apartment and exploring the interior.
Images: Meadowbrook Apartments presentation drawing, Allen & Kelley Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.Meadowbrook Apartments photographs, Allen & Kelley Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.
