By Harry McCawley, The Republic
harry@therepublic.com
Cummins Inc.'s selection of downtown Columbus as the site for an office complex to house 500 workers was contingent on a four-deck parking
garage to be funded by the state, city and a southeastern Indiana foundation. "Quite simply, we would not have chosen this location had the parking garage not been part of the deal," said Cummins Inc. President Joe Loughrey.
The 500-car facility will be in the parking lot directly west of the courthouse and bounded by Second, Third, Jackson and Brown streets. It will be across Third Street from the proposed site of the office building in what is now The Commons.
Construction soon
The garage will be the second to be built in the downtown area within the year. A garage at Fourth and Jackson streets, north of the Commons, is under construction and will be opened later in the year. City officials hope to begin construction on the second garage within months.
Columbus Mayor Fred Armstrong estimated the cost of the proposed garage at $8 million to $8.5 million.
Armstrong said that, pending City Council approval, the city would commit a maximum of $4 million to the project. The remainder would be provided by state grants and a donation from Lawrenceburg Regional Economic Development Fund.
The Lawrenceburg Fund was created and is maintained by revenue from Argosy Casino. In 2007, the fund provided $2 million to Columbus for infrastructure projects relating to the expansion of Cummins Inc.'s Plant 1. That project will increase the local work force by about 600.
Armstrong said city officials are studying a variety of funding mechanisms for its portion of the garage, including some form of bonding.
City bonding
Members of Columbus City Council informally have indicated they would approve a bond in the amount of $6 million for the renovation of the public portion of The Commons. The city has a bonding capacity of about $12.7 million, but Armstrong said it is possible that the city's Parks and Recreation Department - which has its own bonding capacity - could assume some of the Commons costs, especially that portion related to the public playground.
Help with maintenance
Cummins officials indicated the company would provide about $100,000 a year that could be applied to the garage's maintenance costs.
The structure would be owned and managed by Columbus Redevelopment Commission. Use of the garage will be limited to Cummins workers during work periods Monday through Friday, but it should be available to the public during after hours and on the weekends.
Redevelopment Commission President Tom Vujovich said that unlike the garage to the north of The Commons, the proposed facility would not have space for retail outlets.