Andretti Autosports is putting its HQ by a nature preserve despite countless other options

I am writing to share my concern about the new racing headquarters next to Ritchey Woods in Fishers.

Andretti Autosports recently resumed construction on its 90-acre headquarters development near the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport, and unfortunately, near one of the most biodiverse parks in the region.

At 127 acres, Ritchey Woods is the largest park in Fishers and is one of three nature preserves in Hamilton County. Of 160 bird species documented in the park, 27 of them meet the criteria to be considered rare or endangered.

Encroachment is a term used to describe the advancement of structures into natural areas, including buffers. The development is encroaching on the parks’ ecological buffer – farmland. Much of the park itself is reclaimed farmland, once identical to the land that Andretti is building on.

The problem is that there are hundreds buildings for lease in Indianapolis, and Andretti already has an existing location. It is nonsensical and unsustainable to consume land buffering a nature preserve.

Andretti is planning a partnership with the parks department for environmental education, but true sustainability is protecting land buffering the nature preserve indefinitely and locating the new headquarters in one of the hundreds of existing buildings across the city.

Susie McGovern lives in Fishers.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Andretti Autosports HQ project is encroaching on a nature preserve