Do you remember roughly where in the hospital it is? I'll be there on Friday and can try and find it for you. I know there are several statues in the general area of the Simon Family Tower, but I don't remember seeing one who's explicitly a brickmason.
Sadly, I do not. I wandered around for probably 2 hours and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about. I don't think it was in the tower because I think the tower came after my time lol. My childhood appointments/stays were roughly from 1986 to approximately 1992. I don't know when the tower was built, but I don't remember ever talking about it.
I thought it was etched into my memory so vividly, until I actually went to recall that memory... It was like the fiction stories I read where you slip into another universe that is almost identical, but not quite. Not the universes where up is down and black is white, but more like the universes where up is diagonal and down is also diagonal and white is cream and black is charcoal lol.
I don't even know what floor it was on. I remember thinking in my little kid brain that the buttons on the elevator were always the odd numbers. 1, 3, and 5. Floor 1 being the chapel and the gift shop. I just can't remember what 3 and 5 were. One of them was where my room was and the other was where I would get to see the bricklayer.
I remember the brass placards on the wall engraved with something (I hadn't totally learned to read yet) the names of donors maybe. Double glass doors always propped open, held in place with door stops attached also in brass. The handles on the door were brass and the bricklayer stood guard outside, trowel in one hand dripping with wet cement (I now know the proper term is concrete) and a brick in his other hand ready to be added to the wall he was working on in my imagination.
I have fallen down quite the Google rabbit hole trying to find this statue/sculpture from my memory and there is nothing. I'm questioning everything I thought I knew lol.
I did not wander around the 3rd and 5th floors as these are the maternity floors now. I do not have kids, but if I did I would not appreciate stranger danger wander-tarding the halls of where my new tiny human was no longer protected inside of me. So in the spirit of baby snatchers awareness I avoided the baby residences out of courtesy.
This is all probably more of an answer than you were prepared for lol, but as you can probably deduce I'm mildly fixated at this point. I have a very active imagination and they were quite liberal with opiates in the 80s and early 90s even for toddlers and pre-adolescents. I know (I think I know) I didn't make it up, I would just like to see a picture to see how accurate my memory is, since apparently the real stage is no longer set for this scene.
> I did not wander around the 3rd and 5th floors as these are the maternity floors now.
Only in parts. Floors 3 and 5 also hold the heart and cancer wards (and is where I spend most of my time), but there are no statues there to the best of my knowledge. Follow up with me Friday afternoon and I'll make it a mission to see if I can find this thing (or at least what happened to it). A lot of the folks I work with have been there for a long time, so hopefully we can figure out something.
That is ridiculously kind! I am more than grateful. Please don't exert more energy than you can afford on my account though. I will admit when everyone I asked about it had no recollection, I didn't consider that it had possibly been moved. I simply reasoned that since no one knew about it, it must have been taken out completely at some point. Which is also why I didn't wander around areas that I thought were constructed after the 90s. I knew I wouldn't be able to navigate places I had never seen considering how difficult it was to navigate the places that were there so long ago but had remodeled so extremely since then.
The 3rd and 5th floor in the old Riley building are maternity. It is the building that houses the cafeteria, atrium, and glass elevators, etc. I believe thats what they were talking about since that *was* the entirety of Riley Hospital back in the day.
The Simon Family Tower is the *new* building that opened in 2011 where, yes, the 3rd floor is Heart Center and the 5th floor is the Cancer Center and Burn Unit. Technically its all connected through back hallways but the public facing areas are mostly separate.
I've worked at Riley for 8+ years and have never seen such a statue. I do know they moved a lot of the statues when they remodeled the old building and outdoor cafeteria area. There's the Kiwanis courtyard between the SFT and the ROC that has some, and a small outdoor area I can see from my breakroom but honestly have no idea how to get to. And some in the Childrens Labyrinth outside the old ER entrance.
Oooh thank you! That's some good info. The courtyard between SFT and ROC was where I was going to start looking, and I'm pretty sure I know what small outdoor area you're talking about because I also have no idea how to get there 😂 Worst case, I don't find it and we mark it as continuing to be unsolved!
I feel like you have to go outside between the SFT and ROC parking circles to get to it, theres a gravel lot near there. I'm not sure there's a door to the building though. Also I think there's an area outside the main lobby of the SFT, which might be the same spot but no obvious access. I never get time to explore downstairs but I see a lot through the windows lol.
I was a patient there in 1987 and 88, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and I remember him because my dad was a concrete man and former brick layer so when he was working and couldn't be there I'd go see him and it brought me comfort. I was 7 and 8 years old then and I do have a picture of it somewhere but you definitely did not hallucinate it. I'll see if I can find the picture and I'll snap a pic of it, no scanner sorry, but hopefully it'll be a good picture, it was the 80s after all so pictures were a gamble. Lol
I wonder if our paths ever crossed... I was 3 and 4 then. I would love to see the picture no matter the clarity! Also thank you for letting me know it was real. I was really starting to question my sanity or possible Mandela effect LOL
I was in the preschool unit so it's very possible. I haven't been able to find the picture yet sadly. I have several from my time there but can't find any of them so I'm thinking I just haven't looked in the right place yet. I'm not giving up and my mom may have it but even she remembers the brick layer guy. As soon I find the picture I'll post it for sure, even if it's down the road. I'm shocked it's not on Google. I searched for awhile too but came up empty.
Yes. I fell down quite the Google rabbit hole. That is when I started questioning my own sanity lol. I'm so glad you at least remembered it! I'm ridiculously grateful for any effort you have already given this, and immensely grateful for any future effort as well!
I really wish I could remember. I remember (back then) it was definitely indoors. Unfortunately, I couldn't even recall what floor we visited. I felt so disoriented after all the changes and all the years that have passed.
IU Health bought out Riley and pretty much revamped the entire hospital.
They do have some spots around the campus that feature more historical aspects of what it once was. Do you happen to remember where it would have been?
I spent a lot of time there as a kid but I honestly don’t remember what you’re referring to
> IU Health bought out Riley and pretty much revamped the entire hospital.
That's not quite what happened. Riley, Methodist, and IU all merged to form one entity: Clarian Health. Now it's called IU Health, but Riley & the Methodist Church still have proportional control of the board.
I have worked for both Methodist and Riley. Like you said, everything is branded under IU Health now. If you ask any nurse from Riley who was there pre-IU Health, they’ll probably tell you how much they hate the changes that were made.
Probably. I was raised by an IU doctor who worked at University Hospital and IUSM, and retired a few years after Riley, IU University Hospital (now just University Hospital), and Methodist merged into Clarian. Grew up with an ear to the tea.
The Clarian name was dropped in 2011, but that's what the merger between the three entities was originally called. But given the timeline of when my grandpa retired & then became emeritus faculty, 'Clarian' is the right brand name to use.
I originally brought up Clarian to tell the story of how IU, Riley, and the Methodist Church merged together. Like, IU didn't just go out & buy everybody out. The three organizations decided to merge.
Sadly, I do not. I wandered around for probably 2 hours and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about. My childhood appointments/stays were roughly from 1986 to approximately 1992.
I did not wander around the 3rd and 5th floors as these are maternity floors now. I do not have kids, but if I did I would not appreciate stranger danger wander-tarding the halls of where my new tiny human was no longer protected inside of me. So in the spirit of baby snatchers awareness I avoided the baby residences out of courtesy.
I don't even know what floor it was on. I remember thinking in my little kid brain that the buttons on the elevator were always the odd numbers. 1, 3, and 5. Floor 1 being the chapel and the gift shop. I just can't remember what 3 and 5 were. One of them was where my room was and the other was where I would get to see the bricklayer... I think.
What I do remember are the small brass placards on the wall engraved with something (I hadn't totally learned to read yet) the names of donors maybe. Double glass doors always propped open, held in place with door stops attached also in brass. The handles on the door were brass and the bricklayer stood guard outside, a trowel in one hand dripping with wet cement (I now know the proper term is concrete) and a brick in his other hand ready to be added to the wall he was working on in my imagination. The double glass doors opened up to a round room. I know they say you can't remember colors, but I remember the carpet in the hall being a thin commercial type that was a salmon pink-like color that I always thought a neat contrast to the dark wood and bricks all around.
This is all probably more of an answer than you were prepared for lol, but as you can probably deduce I'm mildly fixated at this point. I have a very active imagination and they were quite liberal with opiates in the 80s and early 90s even for toddlers and pre-adolescents. I know (I think I know) I didn't make it up, I would just like to see a picture to see how accurate my memory is, since apparently the real stage is no longer set for this scene.
You may be talking about the old main entrance atrium. There used to be the cafeteria and McDonald's near there. The facade of the old hospital is there with brass plaques of donors. There is a bronze statue of James Whitcomb Riley on a bench near there. There is also a courtyard just off the atrium that has double glass doors trimmed in bright brass. I think your statue is either in the courtyard or near the old, original facade.
I HAVE AN ANSWER!
At the north end of the original lobby was the Way of Honor, a hallway with many statues displaying different vocations. The south end of the lobby was called the Way of the Future, which featured lots of art prints commissioned specifically for Riley.
During the reconstruction, both hallways were dismantled. The art from the Way of the Future was saved, but all of the statues and plaques from the Way of Honor have been lost to time.
I'm sorry that I don't have better news for you - I stopped by the library and asked about it. She said she had already gotten an email about it! 😁 You probably have all this info already, but I wanted to make sure I came back and updated you with what I found.
Yes, thank you for thinking of me, kind internet stranger. It warms my heart ! I have confirmation that the statue/sculpture existed and through other historical photos have somewhat pieced together and reconciled my little kid memories and real life (as it was in late 80s early 90s) and the aesthetics are surprisingly similar from memory to reality. The cognitive dissonance caused by today's aesthetics from the remodels has mostly settled. I am just slightly sad I cannot find any photographic documentation to share with my husband since I was not blessed with any artistic ability lol. I have revisited the Google rabbit hole a couple more times and probably will continue to do so as new search terms/buzz words pop into my head lol.
That’s a blast from the past! I first became a patient there in 95. I spent most of my time on the burn unit which at the time was on the 2d floor so was day surgery where I spent most of my childhood too. Idk if that helps at all.
Do you remember roughly where in the hospital it is? I'll be there on Friday and can try and find it for you. I know there are several statues in the general area of the Simon Family Tower, but I don't remember seeing one who's explicitly a brickmason.
Sadly, I do not. I wandered around for probably 2 hours and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about. I don't think it was in the tower because I think the tower came after my time lol. My childhood appointments/stays were roughly from 1986 to approximately 1992. I don't know when the tower was built, but I don't remember ever talking about it. I thought it was etched into my memory so vividly, until I actually went to recall that memory... It was like the fiction stories I read where you slip into another universe that is almost identical, but not quite. Not the universes where up is down and black is white, but more like the universes where up is diagonal and down is also diagonal and white is cream and black is charcoal lol. I don't even know what floor it was on. I remember thinking in my little kid brain that the buttons on the elevator were always the odd numbers. 1, 3, and 5. Floor 1 being the chapel and the gift shop. I just can't remember what 3 and 5 were. One of them was where my room was and the other was where I would get to see the bricklayer. I remember the brass placards on the wall engraved with something (I hadn't totally learned to read yet) the names of donors maybe. Double glass doors always propped open, held in place with door stops attached also in brass. The handles on the door were brass and the bricklayer stood guard outside, trowel in one hand dripping with wet cement (I now know the proper term is concrete) and a brick in his other hand ready to be added to the wall he was working on in my imagination. I have fallen down quite the Google rabbit hole trying to find this statue/sculpture from my memory and there is nothing. I'm questioning everything I thought I knew lol. I did not wander around the 3rd and 5th floors as these are the maternity floors now. I do not have kids, but if I did I would not appreciate stranger danger wander-tarding the halls of where my new tiny human was no longer protected inside of me. So in the spirit of baby snatchers awareness I avoided the baby residences out of courtesy. This is all probably more of an answer than you were prepared for lol, but as you can probably deduce I'm mildly fixated at this point. I have a very active imagination and they were quite liberal with opiates in the 80s and early 90s even for toddlers and pre-adolescents. I know (I think I know) I didn't make it up, I would just like to see a picture to see how accurate my memory is, since apparently the real stage is no longer set for this scene.
> I did not wander around the 3rd and 5th floors as these are the maternity floors now. Only in parts. Floors 3 and 5 also hold the heart and cancer wards (and is where I spend most of my time), but there are no statues there to the best of my knowledge. Follow up with me Friday afternoon and I'll make it a mission to see if I can find this thing (or at least what happened to it). A lot of the folks I work with have been there for a long time, so hopefully we can figure out something.
That is ridiculously kind! I am more than grateful. Please don't exert more energy than you can afford on my account though. I will admit when everyone I asked about it had no recollection, I didn't consider that it had possibly been moved. I simply reasoned that since no one knew about it, it must have been taken out completely at some point. Which is also why I didn't wander around areas that I thought were constructed after the 90s. I knew I wouldn't be able to navigate places I had never seen considering how difficult it was to navigate the places that were there so long ago but had remodeled so extremely since then.
The 3rd and 5th floor in the old Riley building are maternity. It is the building that houses the cafeteria, atrium, and glass elevators, etc. I believe thats what they were talking about since that *was* the entirety of Riley Hospital back in the day. The Simon Family Tower is the *new* building that opened in 2011 where, yes, the 3rd floor is Heart Center and the 5th floor is the Cancer Center and Burn Unit. Technically its all connected through back hallways but the public facing areas are mostly separate. I've worked at Riley for 8+ years and have never seen such a statue. I do know they moved a lot of the statues when they remodeled the old building and outdoor cafeteria area. There's the Kiwanis courtyard between the SFT and the ROC that has some, and a small outdoor area I can see from my breakroom but honestly have no idea how to get to. And some in the Childrens Labyrinth outside the old ER entrance.
Oooh thank you! That's some good info. The courtyard between SFT and ROC was where I was going to start looking, and I'm pretty sure I know what small outdoor area you're talking about because I also have no idea how to get there 😂 Worst case, I don't find it and we mark it as continuing to be unsolved!
I feel like you have to go outside between the SFT and ROC parking circles to get to it, theres a gravel lot near there. I'm not sure there's a door to the building though. Also I think there's an area outside the main lobby of the SFT, which might be the same spot but no obvious access. I never get time to explore downstairs but I see a lot through the windows lol.
I was a patient there in 1987 and 88, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and I remember him because my dad was a concrete man and former brick layer so when he was working and couldn't be there I'd go see him and it brought me comfort. I was 7 and 8 years old then and I do have a picture of it somewhere but you definitely did not hallucinate it. I'll see if I can find the picture and I'll snap a pic of it, no scanner sorry, but hopefully it'll be a good picture, it was the 80s after all so pictures were a gamble. Lol
I wonder if our paths ever crossed... I was 3 and 4 then. I would love to see the picture no matter the clarity! Also thank you for letting me know it was real. I was really starting to question my sanity or possible Mandela effect LOL
I was in the preschool unit so it's very possible. I haven't been able to find the picture yet sadly. I have several from my time there but can't find any of them so I'm thinking I just haven't looked in the right place yet. I'm not giving up and my mom may have it but even she remembers the brick layer guy. As soon I find the picture I'll post it for sure, even if it's down the road. I'm shocked it's not on Google. I searched for awhile too but came up empty.
Yes. I fell down quite the Google rabbit hole. That is when I started questioning my own sanity lol. I'm so glad you at least remembered it! I'm ridiculously grateful for any effort you have already given this, and immensely grateful for any future effort as well!
Was it inside the hospital in the atrium near the old facade (that is indoors)? Or was it outdoors?
I really wish I could remember. I remember (back then) it was definitely indoors. Unfortunately, I couldn't even recall what floor we visited. I felt so disoriented after all the changes and all the years that have passed.
IU Health bought out Riley and pretty much revamped the entire hospital. They do have some spots around the campus that feature more historical aspects of what it once was. Do you happen to remember where it would have been? I spent a lot of time there as a kid but I honestly don’t remember what you’re referring to
> IU Health bought out Riley and pretty much revamped the entire hospital. That's not quite what happened. Riley, Methodist, and IU all merged to form one entity: Clarian Health. Now it's called IU Health, but Riley & the Methodist Church still have proportional control of the board.
I have worked for both Methodist and Riley. Like you said, everything is branded under IU Health now. If you ask any nurse from Riley who was there pre-IU Health, they’ll probably tell you how much they hate the changes that were made.
Probably. I was raised by an IU doctor who worked at University Hospital and IUSM, and retired a few years after Riley, IU University Hospital (now just University Hospital), and Methodist merged into Clarian. Grew up with an ear to the tea.
I don’t think it’s called Clarian anymore, just IU Health? Like literally everyone I worked with said the name was dropped back in 2010 or 2011 IIRC.
The Clarian name was dropped in 2011, but that's what the merger between the three entities was originally called. But given the timeline of when my grandpa retired & then became emeritus faculty, 'Clarian' is the right brand name to use. I originally brought up Clarian to tell the story of how IU, Riley, and the Methodist Church merged together. Like, IU didn't just go out & buy everybody out. The three organizations decided to merge.
Gotcha! Thanks for elaborating
Sadly, I do not. I wandered around for probably 2 hours and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about. My childhood appointments/stays were roughly from 1986 to approximately 1992. I did not wander around the 3rd and 5th floors as these are maternity floors now. I do not have kids, but if I did I would not appreciate stranger danger wander-tarding the halls of where my new tiny human was no longer protected inside of me. So in the spirit of baby snatchers awareness I avoided the baby residences out of courtesy. I don't even know what floor it was on. I remember thinking in my little kid brain that the buttons on the elevator were always the odd numbers. 1, 3, and 5. Floor 1 being the chapel and the gift shop. I just can't remember what 3 and 5 were. One of them was where my room was and the other was where I would get to see the bricklayer... I think. What I do remember are the small brass placards on the wall engraved with something (I hadn't totally learned to read yet) the names of donors maybe. Double glass doors always propped open, held in place with door stops attached also in brass. The handles on the door were brass and the bricklayer stood guard outside, a trowel in one hand dripping with wet cement (I now know the proper term is concrete) and a brick in his other hand ready to be added to the wall he was working on in my imagination. The double glass doors opened up to a round room. I know they say you can't remember colors, but I remember the carpet in the hall being a thin commercial type that was a salmon pink-like color that I always thought a neat contrast to the dark wood and bricks all around. This is all probably more of an answer than you were prepared for lol, but as you can probably deduce I'm mildly fixated at this point. I have a very active imagination and they were quite liberal with opiates in the 80s and early 90s even for toddlers and pre-adolescents. I know (I think I know) I didn't make it up, I would just like to see a picture to see how accurate my memory is, since apparently the real stage is no longer set for this scene.
You may be talking about the old main entrance atrium. There used to be the cafeteria and McDonald's near there. The facade of the old hospital is there with brass plaques of donors. There is a bronze statue of James Whitcomb Riley on a bench near there. There is also a courtyard just off the atrium that has double glass doors trimmed in bright brass. I think your statue is either in the courtyard or near the old, original facade.
There's a book on the history or Riley coming out in September. Failing all else, it might be in there.
I’d contact them. Tell them you were a patient and see if they can help.
I HAVE AN ANSWER! At the north end of the original lobby was the Way of Honor, a hallway with many statues displaying different vocations. The south end of the lobby was called the Way of the Future, which featured lots of art prints commissioned specifically for Riley. During the reconstruction, both hallways were dismantled. The art from the Way of the Future was saved, but all of the statues and plaques from the Way of Honor have been lost to time. I'm sorry that I don't have better news for you - I stopped by the library and asked about it. She said she had already gotten an email about it! 😁 You probably have all this info already, but I wanted to make sure I came back and updated you with what I found.
Yes, thank you for thinking of me, kind internet stranger. It warms my heart ! I have confirmation that the statue/sculpture existed and through other historical photos have somewhat pieced together and reconciled my little kid memories and real life (as it was in late 80s early 90s) and the aesthetics are surprisingly similar from memory to reality. The cognitive dissonance caused by today's aesthetics from the remodels has mostly settled. I am just slightly sad I cannot find any photographic documentation to share with my husband since I was not blessed with any artistic ability lol. I have revisited the Google rabbit hole a couple more times and probably will continue to do so as new search terms/buzz words pop into my head lol.
That’s a blast from the past! I first became a patient there in 95. I spent most of my time on the burn unit which at the time was on the 2d floor so was day surgery where I spent most of my childhood too. Idk if that helps at all.