CHARLESTOWN — Plans to revitalize half a block of downtown Charlestown with new "live-work" buildings are moving forward.
The city has bought eight properties on Market Street between Main and High streets. Monday evening, the Charlestown City Council approved $340,000 more to purchase three remaining properties and then to demolish all the buildings along the half-block stretch.
Later this summer, the city will ask developers to submit their proposals for multi-story buildings, with retail on the first floor and apartments on the second and possibly third floors.
The mixed-use buildings are identified in Charlestown's recently adopted comprehensive plan as a way to create a "Main Street" atmosphere. The comprehensive plan states city officials should work to preserve and rehabilitate historic buildings, while also mimicking an historic aesthetic for new ones.
"I think it's exciting," Council President Eric Vaughn said. "[It's] the ability to plant the seed for commercial growth along the highway."
The three remaining properties the city would like to buy are the former Deckers Food Mart property and two homes.
Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall said demolition of the structures won't start until May.
City Councilwoman Tina Barnes said she's opposed the project from the beginning. She thinks the city could use the funds for other needs, instead of buying properties and demolishing buildings.
ROAD THROUGH PLEASANT RIDGE
The city council also budgeted $500,000 in matching grant money to build a road through the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood.
The grant money was awarded by Indiana's Community Crossings program, a statewide initiative meant to create infrastructure investments in local communities. The money can only be used for local roads and bridges.
Charlestown plans to use its grant to build about a quarter-mile road connecting Old Ind. 403 and Clark Street.
The road would be constructed through a property about 30 acres in size owned by developers who are purchasing homes in Pleasant Ridge. Those developers hope to own all 350 or so properties in the neighborhood, demolish them, and build an entirely new subdivision.
The road hasn't yet been designed, Mayor Bob Hall said during the council meeting.
Barnes was the only council member to vote against budgeting the grant for that project. She said there are plenty of roads in Charlestown in need of repairs that the grant could have funded.
"There's three access points [in Pleasant Ridge]. They serve us well," said Barnes, a resident of Pleasant Ridge. "This is just for the developer [to serve his needs]."
Vaughn said the road opens up more land for commercial development, as the property is essentially just farmland now.
He added that while developers eyeing Pleasant Ridge benefit, so does the city.
"It's a mutually beneficial thing," Vaughn said.