The Hoosierist: Our State’s Abundant Nudist Resorts
Q: There are a lot of nudist resorts in Indiana. Of all places, why here?
A: Indiana does host a respectable number of places where guests can let it all hang out—from the Sunshower Country Club in Centerville to the Ponderosa Sun Club in Roselawn. Though states such as Florida have many more, Indiana’s seven clubs are enough to tie it with New York and Ohio as the nation’s fifth-most nude-friendly state. That’s an odd honor for a place where you can’t go outside in your birthday suit for much of the year. Perhaps Hoosiers dig nudist resorts for the same reason people who live in cold climates buy convertibles: When the warm months roll around, they want to take full advantage. “Some people just want to shed those layers of clothes and feel the sun on their bodies,” says Jeffrey Baldasarre of the American Association of Nude Recreation, which is totally real and not something The Hoosierist made up.
Q: How will people at the new Infosys campus at the airport get any work done with jets taking off all day?
A: At first glance, building a tech teaching campus on the site of the old Indianapolis International Airport makes as much sense as placing a cat shelter next to a laser pointer test range. But this spot isn’t as disruptive as it seems. Last year, only 26 noise complaints of any kind were reported, compared to more than 200 annually before the new terminal (located farther away from human habitation) opened. The airport watchdog group National Association to Insure a Sound Controlled Environment (NOISE) says Indy’s airport isn’t even on its radar, sound pollution–wise. And Infosys almost certainly will build the campus to muffle any jets in the area. “Like hotels that are next to runways everywhere in this country,” says NOISE national coordinator Emily Tratner, “they have building materials that can mitigate the sound.”
Q: The new Riverside High School was once a naval facility. Why did a state with no coastline need such a thing?
A: Though the structure at 30th Street and White River Parkway is hardly beachfront property, back in the day, this place played a pivotal role in Naval strategy. Opened in 1938, it served as a training center for radio operators. It was also a clandestine meeting place where the military’s top brass could discuss plans, including the D-Day invasion of Europe. The Navy closed the place in 2014, and it recently reopened as Riverside. Not that it’s lost its nautical flavor. The gym features murals of naval battles, and many of the windows are portholes. There’s even an officer’s club, which has been turned into a teacher’s lounge. Unfortunately for the teachers, it will serve coffee instead of the hard stuff.
Have Indiana-related questions? Send them to hoosierist@IndianapolisMonthly.com.
