INDIANAPOLIS — Visitors to White River State Park attractions will receive free admission and free parking on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 16, with a canned good donation (one can per person, per attraction). White River State Park is located at 801 W. Washington St.
In addition to enjoying the attractions themselves, MLK Jr. Day visitors to the Park can:
• Watch films with Dr. King’s speeches at the Indiana State Museum.
• View “Game of Change,” a film featuring a historic basketball game in 1963 where Mississippi State disregarded an unwritten Mississippi rule against playing integrated teams, at the NCAA Hall of Champions.
• Catch Jingle Rails at the Eiteljorg Museum the day before it chugs out of town.
• Get a free ticket to the Indianapolis Indians’ season opener if they complete a health screening at the State Museum.
• See animals that love the cooler temperatures and plenty of indoor exhibits at the Zoo.
• Experience the IMAX® film “Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience” for free.
Since it started 17 years ago, the Park’s partnership with Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana on this one-day, annual event has resulted in more than 95 tons of non-perishable, canned food donations.
Special activities will take place throughout the day at most of the major attractions that make up White River State Park: Eiteljorg Museum, IMAX® Theater, Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis Zoo and the NCAA® Hall of Champions. The Indianapolis Indians will have activities at the State Museum.
Eskenazi Health and the Indianapolis Indians will offer free health screenings at the Indiana State Museum From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nurses will also be available to discuss the importance of primary and preventive care. Anyone who participates in the health screenings will receive a complimentary ticket to Opening Night at Victory Field on April 6 courtesy of the Indianapolis Indians. Plus, Rowdie, the Indians mascot, will stop by for autographs between 11 a.m. and noon.
The Park is also offering complimentary parking on MLK, Jr. Day. Visitors may park in the underground garage located off Washington Street in front of the Indiana State Museum, in the surface parking lots at the Indianapolis Zoo and Victory Field, and in the surface parking lot across from Victory Field next to the Park’s Visitor’s Center. Parking is not guaranteed and is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information about White River State Park, visit www.whiteriverstatepark.org.
In addition to White River State Park’s celebration, Indianapolis Public Schools’ Office of Multicultural Education will sponsor its 36th annual tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at 10 a.m. on Fri., Jan. 13. The 2017 program will be televised from the historic Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School and viewed in classrooms throughout the school district and the community by WFYI. Following the program, the IPS Crispus Attucks Museum, located at the school, will be open to visitors. The program and Museum are free and open to the public. The school is located at 1140 W. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. St.
Seven musicians with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will be performing Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons at Eskenazi Hospital Jan. 16 from noon- 1 p.m. This free performance will take place in the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation Concourse at Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital, 720 Eskenazi Ave.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday; state, local, and federal offices will be closed. All Indianapolis Public Library locations will be closed on Mon., Jan. 16 in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, except the InfoZone, located within The Children’s Museum at 3000 N. Meridian Street, which is open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
