Bottleworks restoration work honored with top award

The historic restoration of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in downtown Indianapolis won a top statewide award – the 2023 Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration.

The Coca-Cola Bottling Company opened in 1931 and features classic Art Deco design. After the bottling operation moved out, Indianapolis Public Schools bought the large Massachusetts Avenue building in 1968 and housed buses and storage there for decades. For years, the iconic Coca-Cola script on the building was the sole public reminder of its showcase architecture.

The Indiana Landmarks Cook Cup honors Hendricks Commercial Properties for restoring the Coca-Cola Bottling Company and putting its architecture to use and back on display. The company reopened the building as a boutique hotel in 2020, as the hub of its new Bottleworks District, with a new food hall, movie theater and outdoor event space. The $300 million project transformed the area into a food and entertainment destination.

Marsh Davis, president of Indiana Landmarks said its usefulness to the neighborhood and the city is part of what the Cook Cup honors.

“We look for projects that have a community impact and more of a human impact — then it's not just about the building, it's about community, and how these places like the Bottleworks can actually transform an area,” Davis said.

Indiana Landmarks created the, now annual, Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration in 2007, when the inaugural prize went to the award’s namesake family in honor of its transformation of the West Baden and French Lick Springs hotels in southern Indiana.

A second phase of the Bottleworks District project is under construction and will add housing, retail and office space. Davis said continued service to the city is a restoration goal.

“This type of historic rehabilitation is all about economic revitalization. It’s a great tool to transform an area, bring people in,” Davis said.