INDIANAPOLIS – Peering philosophically out of his city-council building office window Monday, Mayor of Indianapolis Greg Ballard thinks that a whole bunch of “really freaking tall” skyscrapers would be pretty neat right about now.

Even though his office remains devoid of the sort of budget that would fund such a project, Mr Ballard privately imagines what it would be like to replace Monument Circle with a record-breaking 3,000 ft structure he would affectionately name Ballard Tower.

“Wouldn’t it be just marvelous if Indy had, like, five or six super tall skyscrapers?,” he said with a knowing grin. “We could have a couple of Empire State Buildings overlooking White River, right next to Ballard Bridge and The Mayor Complex. My gosh, it would be totally sweet.”

“Of course, it’s just a fantasy of mine, but man, we’d make New York City look like Terra Haute.”

Among many of Ballard’s other far-reaching pipe dreams is the idea to expand the city’s cultural district into a world famous and eye-catching city square with “lots of blinking neon billboards.”