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Grande Closing Causes Concerns
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Gasoline Alley property owner Charlie Patterson.
Photo by Jay Thompson |
(posted Oct 27)
Before Allison Transmission had a chance to submit its petition vacate
Grande Avenue to the Metropolitan Development Commission, Tom Glass, 500
View Neighborhood Association President, and Gasoline Alley Developer Charlie
Patterson were expressing opposition to the closure.
The two men expressed their concerns to the Speedway Redevelopment Commission
at the commission's October 27 meeting. Executive Director Scott Harris
said the petition to close the street would be filed Wednesday.
Patterson said "I am the one that started the street Gasoline Alley."
He started 33 years ago and has seen the industrial area grow from eight
to over thirty buildings. Patterson stressed the importance to keep Grande
Avenue open because it feeds into Gasoline Alley.
He recalled the day when he invited Mayor Bill Hudnut to the Westside.
He showed him the importance of opening Polco to link to Grande. It was
Patterson's desire to name all three streets Gasoline Alley since it would
link to the track, but his proposal did not materialize.
Glass did not want to lose another north-south corridor, especially if
Georgetown Road is vacated. He said that Grande Avenue is an "important
corridor for our part of town" to reach Vermont Street, Gasoline Alley
and Rockville Road. He wanted to know if a study had been done. Glass said
closing Grande Avenue might be "premature" to benefit Allison
Transmission, considering the state of our national economy. He did not
want to lose the Grande name, noting that the Grande family is related
to the Rosner family and was "a pioneer family" in our community.
Patterson said closing the road would create economic harm to his development
and would devalue the property by one-half. He projected losing over $1
million. He is planning to use some of the income from buildings for his
retirement.
Commission President Vince Noblet said "part of the redevelopment
process causing harm to individuals is not the intent of the commission."
"We are absolutely in favor of it (closing Grande),.....We want Allison
to be as productive as they can possibly be," Noblet said.
The SRC is also working to extend Holt Road to 30th Street as a replacement
for Georgetown Road.
Harris said DPW's study determined the peripheral roads have adequate capacity
to handle the traffic displaced by closing Grande Avenue, even though it
will mean additional driving time.
HNTB Engineer John Meyers conducted the thoroughfare corridor study in 2007. The Hulman Memorial Way Foundation paid $6,000 of the $64,000
bill. During the SRC's February 2007 meeting, Meyers said that vacating
Grande Avenue from 10th Street to Rybolt would cause concerns for businesses
along Gasoline Alley. The corridor study still supported vacating Grande
Avenue to support Allison's security and plant efficiency objectives.
Allison Transmission Central Services and Facilities Executive Director
James Jones said the road closing is for security reasons due to one plant's
involvement with defense contracts. Jones also explained that Allison recently
acquired and demolished the old machinist shop along Cossell Road to have
a contiguous campus within the perimeter. He said moving 10th Street to
the north is to protect the world headquarters.
Resident and Main Street building owner Helen Kellam said Farnsworth Group
contacted her for a survey. One of the questions was about widening Main
Street and building condominiums on both sides of the street. Kellam told
the survey company to leave Main Street alone.
Noblet said they did not initiate the market survey nor was widening Main
Street part of the plan.
Jo Ellen Dotlich protested Harris' renewed contract. She preferred that
he write off his expenses on his own tax returns rather than bill the taxpayers
for his cell phone bills, bagels and coffee. Dotlich encouraged all residents
to examine the SRC's invoices.
Harris noted that other vendors charge for mileage and that he is one of
the cheaper vendors the SRC contracts with.
Commissioner Steve Bishop said that the claims are reviewed before being
approved and that he takes pride in questioning expenditures. He said he
is not immune from the town's financial situation since he is a resident.
Noblet said that all expense claims are signed off by two members.
The SRC has an approximate $402,000 cash balance after spending roughly
$3.9 million.
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