Residents Embrace Master Plan Unveiling(posted June 20) Artist renderings greenspace | industrial | Main street | roundabout 1 | roundabout 2 A packed crowd filled the Speedway High School auditorium to witness the unveiling of the proposed Speed Zone Master Plan that will guide Speedway's future back to economic health. The June 19 meeting was delayed from starting on time to give late comers a chance to settle against the wall to watch the hour and half long presentation that showed a "bold vision" of mass transformation in the 350 acre redevelopment area. The vision included roundabouts, a parking garage, pedestrian friendly paths, hotel/conference center, gateways, wall of fame along Main Street, new road alignments, commercial and retail mixed use on both sides of Main Street. The proposed plan showed 16th street moved south closer to the abandon Conrail tracks, so the IMS could have a pedestrian promenade for safety purposes of entering and exiting the track. Holt Road shifts to the west in the Speed Zone, which is different than the transportation corridor study that extended Holt Road to 38th and Guion to connect I-65. Tenth Street bows between Main and Polco Street to enhance parking and pedestrian crossing for Allison Transmission. The plan also included public parking to be shared with Allison. The plan still recommends vacating Georgetown Road and Grande Avenue. Allison Transmission President Larry Dewey said details need to be worked out to determine what is best for the business and health and safety of his employees before proceeding vacating Grande Avenue. Dewey explained that employees traverse back and forth over Grande to go from Plant Two to Plant 14. He explained the corporation needs to talk to the affected residents and businesses along the street. He didn't say if Allison would compensate Lyndhurst Lawn Mowers if the road is closed. Instead, he commented the vacating process will require defining the roles of the town, the Speedway Redevelopment Commission and Allison to work with the surrounding neighbors. The SRC has worked for two years to come to the point where SRC President Scott Harris could say "let's get started" to the crowd. The presentation illustrated the community involvement by having local residents comment about Speedway's potential future in a short video presentation. He noted development could happen quickly with the IMS milestones of the track turning 100 years old in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the first race in 2011. Harris also noted that developers were out in the crowd but did not name them, explaining that the SRC was still in the early stages of establishing relationships. This reporter did sight one developer in the crowd, Robert Jennings of Scannell Properties, however he did not wish to comment on the plan because it is too early in the process. To increase the importance of the master plan, the SRC invited Dewey, Zipp Speed Weaponery President Andy Ording, and IMS President Joie Chitwood. The men affirmed the plans as an important part to their future success and investments to the area. Dewey told the crowd that in a typical year Allison invests $40 million to $70 million into the plant. Allison has three areas of investment: infrastructure-utilities, technical-engineering and manufacturing. Allison is the world leader in transmissions for buses, trucks and military vehicles. It employs an estimated 3,800 people and occupies 3.8 million square feet. Dewey explained that Allison has been working in fuel cell technology. He said the parallel hybrid systems are used in buses. It is a two path system of electrical and mechanical, so smaller engines can be used for better emission standards. The system also includes regenerative braking. He described the system as acting like a generator that stores energy in the battery when slowing down or going in reverse. He said Indy Go used a test vehicle and now these parallel hybrid buses are in 46 cities in North America. Ording received applause from the audience for his company's manufacturing of carbon fiber wheels that have won five world events including the Tour De France. Ording said the company has about five years left in its current Main Street facility before they would need more space. Since 1998, the company has expanded from 28,000 square foot facility to 40,000 square foot facility. He said they are committed to staying in the Speed Zone area even after they outgrow the current facility. Chitwood compared the revitalization effort to the early days of the track when Tony Hulman purchased it in 1946 to its present day of hosting three first class racing events. John Hale, resident, explained bringing the big corporate executives in was good move on the SRC's part because it indicates confidence in the plan. B& O Trail Association President Diana Virgil came to the unveiling to see if the B & O Trail was included in the master plan. "I am excited," Virgil said. The plan did include the development of the trail. Shane Burkhardt of American Structure Point encouraged people to become involved with the recently formed Speedway Trails Association. Burkhardt presented the details of the plan. Liz Glover of Charlie Brown Pancake and Steak House said " I was not bored for one minute. I love the response of the people." "I loved it. It was wonderful. I am impressed and the number of people that came is encouraging", resident Jerry Urick said. State Representative Phil Hinkle summarize the plan with one word, "interesting." Connie Norton of Main Attraction Antique Mall said she loved the environmentally green building plans about placing sod on roofs to absorb water run off. City County Councilor Marilyn Pfisterer called it "visionary" because of the tremendous potential the plan can bring to Speedway. She said the important part of seeing this plan come to fruition is to keep the people involved. Tom Beaudry, owner of Indy Screen Print and Racing Apparel, did not understand how the scape of Georgetown Road and the businesses along there vanished into different development plans when it is not part of the redevelopment area. He is located at 1700 Georgetown Road. "Those are big plans for not being part of the redevelopment area," he said. HNTB Engineer Tom Hutka attended the unveiling. "It is all real exciting. As a town engineer it will require team work among all the parties. There will be a lot of sets of skills involved in this," he said. Sybille Walker, real estate agent, said the plan should help raise property values. She explained the homes in Speedway have longer listing periods compared to several years ago. It is not just Speedway homes facing longer days on the market before being sold, the overall housing market is in a slump. |
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