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Public Involvement Enlisted for Redevelopment Area Two
(posted Mar 1)
Within two days of creating a tax increment financing district for Redevelopment Area 2, the Speedway Redevelopment Commission conducted a town meeting to gather input to start the area's master planning process. The February 28 meeting attracted about 60 residents and a hand full of business owners to participate in an analysis that examined the town's strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. The public's ideas and opinions were documented on paper for the citizen member steering committee to sort through at a later date.
Mike Broughal of Circle K came from Columbus to accompany Indianapolis
Engineer Don Fisher. Fisher's engineering plans for Circle K have now hit
a snafu since proposed discussions include a roundabout at 25th and High
School Road. Fisher indicated Circle K's plans to tear down the current
Shell Station are on hold because a roundabout would intrude on the Circle
K's site. He also said the new I-465 interchange would have traffic flow
moving farther south away from the current site.
Mike Nance, owner of the UPS Store, thought it was a good start to identify
issues that would bring businesses back to the corridor. He thinks increasing
safer pedestrian crosswalks are critical to increase the consumer base.
Marsha Brooks, proprietor of Ms. B's. Sweet Supplies, has been operating
her cake decorating business for the last five and half years in Speedway.
Brooks attended the meeting because she heard that business structures
were being rated poor, fair, good and excellent. She thought it was an
informative meeting and felt comfortable with the building's rating
listed as good. Ms.B's Sweet Supplies is located
at 6124 W. 25th Street.
A report identifying issues for Redevelopment 2 was conveyed to the group by American Structurepoint Consultant Shane Burkhardt. The statistic that Speedway has a violent crime rate of 8.87 per 1,000 people alarmed Merrill Demaree. That data represented beyond Area Two from 2002 to 2006. The feeling of safety is crucial to attract consumers into the area to shop regardless if the crime is real or a perception.
Other issues that show antiquated function are the numerous curb cuts along
Crawfordsville Road and High School Road that create traffic problems.
The report did not project a good economic forecast. The report indicated
that Speedway continues to decline due to its aging buildings and obsolete
hotels. He expected the decline to quicken by 2010. The report also stated
32.5 percent of the buildings were rated fair and in need of repair. Once
Burkhardt completed the state of the town's condition, residents listed
the town's strength, weakness, opportunities and threats.
Some of the assets are the Hulman Memorial Boulevard, restaurants, IMS,
and the schools. Although Speedway has numerous restaurants, the demographics
indicate there is not a market for a high scale dining restaurant.
As far as weakness, the residents listed the existing imbalance of a higher number of multi-family units than single family homes. They see the higher population density creating extra stress on town services.
The group also identified the traffic flow design in the Speedway Super
Center as a detraction. The bus stop location and four way stop were some
of the traffic flow problems identified.
The group identified a need for a day care, senior center, trails, and
condos to improve the quality of life. Demaree identified consolidation
as Speedway's biggest threat to the redevelopment project and to the town's
existence. If consolidation would occur, it would dissolve town's public
safety, schools and library.
Although an exact date has not been identified, the SRC will host another
public brainstorming session that will involve Ball State College of Architecture
students to sketch residents' vision of how they would like to the concentrated
retail side of Speedway transformed.
Alice McCauley, resident, concluded by standing up to thank the SRC for the public brainstorming involvement.
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