Take The Trolley To Federal Hill Concerts

By: Betsy Reason

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Noblesville traffic, roundabouts construction, and apartment dwelling construction, our Federal Hill Commons park still offers us a place to go and relax and listen to music.

On a recent Saturday night, we decided to go out to the park’s event lawn to listen to one of the tribute bands on the Noblesville Parks Department’s Federal Hill schedule.

Now that construction of condominiums is going on in the former Federal Hill Parking lot and next door, parking is at a premium around the venue.

But there is still parking along Logan Street, at Riverview Health Overflow lot, a temporary public parking lot in the location of a former Mexican restaurant and at BlueSky parking lot.

While it’s only a short distance to walk from any of the parking lots, we noticed and remembered that trolley service is provided free of charge during the Noblesville Parks’ concerts at Federal Hill.

Two trolleys were making a continuous loop around downtown, picking up passengers.

Already having lawn chairs in the back of our car, we picked up some food, packed our sweatshirts and headed for the Noblesville City Hall parking lot.

We were the only passengers waiting for a trolley ride. We only waited about five to seven minutes, and there was a trolley rolling in to pick up riders.

Despite another stop on the way to Federal Hill, we were the only riders on the trolley.

It was a quick ride to Federal Hill, where we were let out at the park’s circle, we stepped off the trolley with our lawn chairs, found a spot on the lawn and enjoyed the concert while eating our dinner that we packed.

When we were ready to leave, we packed up our chairs and watched for the trolley to return to Federal Hill. On the way home, there were many more folks on the trolley, heading back to their trolley stops. But still, the ride was very brief.

The trolleys are a nice alternative to driving to the Federal Hill concerts. Stops are at City Hall, near the Hamilton County Parking Garage on Clinton Street and the Riverview Health Overflow lot. Not only is the ride quick, the ride is quite pleasant and easy to get on and off the trolley with lawn chairs and coolers.

We enjoyed the Chicago tribute band called Chicago Rewired, and encourage folks to take the trolley and come out to the park for future concerts.

The remainder of the schedule features Earth to Mars (Bruno Mars tribute) this Sunday, American English (Beatles tribute) on Sept. 9, and Trippin Billies (Dave Matthews Band tribute) on Sept. 23. Concerts are 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The trolleys run 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

The park since its opening has been a great place to enjoy live music as well as the Noblesville Farmers Market and other events.

The Noblesville Cultural Arts Commission presents its free Summer Band Concerts at Federal Hill Commons. The Indianapolis Municipal Band will be in concert at 6:30 p.m. this Sunday. Last Sunday’s concert, New Horizons Band, was postponed on Sunday afternoon “due to heat, humidity and air quality,” and will be rescheduled at the park in September or October, according to Joni Corbett, NCAC’s board president. And be sure to mark NCAC’s Shakespeare in the Park on your calendar for Federal Hill on Sept. 27-30. Last Saturday, the Noblesville Rotary Club’s BrewBQ fundraiser offered food and music. We’ve had a lot of great events at the park, including the Feeding Team fundraiser with collection of food, church events and more.

So this Saturday, when you’re looking for something to do, consider packing your lawn chairs or blankets, picnic dinner and heading out to one of the trolley stops for a nice ride to Federal Hill.

-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact The Times Editor Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.