Steering Committee To Select Focus Group Members

(posted June 4)

Speedway Redevelopment Area Two Steering Committee has been tasked with providing names of citizens wishing to participate as members of focus and stakeholder groups to American Structurepoint prior to the upcoming charette. The groups will be involved in the three-day charette to provide input for the revitalization of the Crawfordsville Road and High School Road corridor.

The Charette is tentatively scheduled for July 30, 31, and August 1. The charette will be open to the public, but the process will be focused on a core of 30 stakeholders and residents who can commit to the entire three day process for giving input to the transformation.

Ball State University College of Architecture students will not be used as they were for the Speed Zone planning. American Structurepoint will provide technical assistant to keep the public grounded in market realities of what can really be accomplished. Organizing the charette was part of the June 2 discussion that was facilitated by Shane Burkhardt of American Structurepoint.

Committee member John Dizney was concerned about the master plan's outcome if local residents guiding the plan were not business owners in area two.
Burkhardt assured him the business owners would be involved and that a multitude of ideas are healthy for the planning process. The stakeholders meeting would be prior to the charette.

Committee member Nancy Lawrence wanted to know if all the merchants would be invited. Burkhardt said "it was up to the Speedway Redevelopment Commission. My take on this the answer should always be yes."

Speedway Redevelopment Commission President Vince Noblet said "I don't see any reason why not. There is a difference between property owners and merchants. The property owner has a decision from when he is going to invest in. The merchant will always want to be this and that. I hope will we get majority of the property owners involved and the major stores like Kohl's, Kroger and Marsh." He is not sure how well the participation will be from property owners.

Dean Farmer commented about the recent improvements made by Kroger and Marsh.

Burkhardt saidarea two's issues are more complex and that solutions will not be found overnight. Some of the area's weaknesses were addressed.

A shift in the demographics has changed the retail climate. "Kohl's is an extremely important anchor within the shopping center. If you were to lose Kohl's right now, you are going to have some serious problems."

"There is a perception in the community that the apartments are contributing to the crime. It is not all apartments, it is a specific geographical area that has the predominant number. The realities of a couple complexes that has become the perception of all the complexes and that it is something we want to be careful of in the planning process."

Area two is not a pedestrian friendly area, with Hulman Memorial Boulevard creating blind spots for motorists to see pedestrians crossing the street.

Burkhardt said the master plan is way behind and is not projected to be completed in January 2009. The steering committee's next meeting is June 24 at the Junior High School at 6 pm.