BEDFORD — As local leaders hustle to put the finishing touches on Bedford’s blueprint for a 2013 Stellar Communities Award, luminaries in five other towns across the state are polishing their respective proposals in hopes of landing one of the two multi-million dollar grants available.
Twenty-four cities submitted letters of intent to the Stellar Committies, and Bedford, Angola, Frankfort, Petersburg, Richmond and Wabash were selected as finalists.
Bedford also achieved finalist status in 2011.
The Stellar project is a joint endeavor sponsored by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA), and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).
“The Stellar program is an amazing opportunity,” explained Marla Jones, who has played a prominent role alongside Mayor Shawna Girgis in drafting Bedford’s letter each of the past three years. “We work hard on making the community better each and every day, but receiving the Stellar would advance our timeline and put us on the fast track. Projects that normally would take 15 years could be finished in five.”
Competition is keen as each community seeks to define how it can best capitalize on the investment of capital.
Petersburg
Last year, Jon Craig was leading Petersburg’s push to earn a Stellar.
“Our story begins with the impact I-69 will have,” the former mayor explained. “While it certainly brings a lot of great opportunities to Petersburg, we have to protect the city from the loss of traffic from almost 20,000 vehicles per day in the downtown area.”
Petersburg, a burg of just under 2,400 residents, represents the smallest of the six finalists. Craig was convinced city leaders needed to offer travelers a reason to exit off I-69 and visit Petersburg. Hence, last year’s plan included enhanced streetscaping that featured better lighting and new sidewalks.
The downtown already boasts a gigantic mural of favorite son Gil Hodges, who swatted 370 home runs during his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Mets.
Craig left Petersburg last year and accepted a job as deputy director of OCRA. Frank Coleman, the city’s new mayor, has picked up the baton and is leading this year’s quest for the Stellar.
“We don’t want to be a town that dries up into a spot along the side of the road,” he told residents during a recent public forum. If Petersburg wins a Stellar, he explained, it has $18 million worth of projects it can complete in three years instead of 25.
Bernardin and Lochmueller, the same consulting firm that helped facilitate the drafting of Bedford’s comprehensive plan, is assisting Petersburg’s effort. Among the proposed missions are to: reroute coal traffic from downtown; construct senior housing near the hub; and prevent current brain drain by developing a business incubator and a tech center in association with Pike Central High School’s Project Lead the Way program, a provider of innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instruction.
Coleman knows the competition for the two Stellar grants will be fierce, but emphasized he and his team are determined to move Petersburg forward.
Angola
Dick Hickman is mayor of Angola, a town of 8,612 in Indiana’s northeastern corner. Ground Rules, a consulting firm headquartered in Zionsville, assisted Angola in drafting its comprehensive plan and also is aiding the city’s bid for a Stellar.
Trine University and Cameron Memorial Community Hospital, two of Angola’s larger employers, are prominent in the city’s economic development plans. Leaders learned from public forums that residents want walking trails along natural green space and a park for recreation.
Like Bedford and Petersburg, downtown revitalization also is paramount to Angola’s plan.
Frankfort
Chris McBarnes was only 23 when he was elected mayor of Frankfort in 2011. A recent graduate of Butler University, McBarnes has grand plans for this community of 16,422 in Clinton County.
Frankfort’s strategy seeks to duplicate a design similar to the downtown canal in Indianapolis by developing a two-block span of Prairie Creek near City Hall. Ivy Tech Community College also plays a central role in the plan.
Other enhancements include an amphitheater, senior housing units, plus streetscaping and facade renovations.
Wabash
A town of 10,666 in north central Indiana, Wabash is just a tad smaller than Bedford. Like the other Stellar candidates, Wabash has designed its proposal around its hub. Reclaiming a brownfield site and transforming it into an Ivy Tech campus is a key component of the plan. Another is to extend the city’s River Walk trail.
Enhanced recreational opportunities include the creation of a splash pad next to a skate park and construction of an outdoor amphitheater to facilitate summer concerts and community events.
Richmond
The largest community among the six Stellar finalists is Richmond, a city of just under 37,000 situated on I-70 and next door to Ohio. Richmond boasts four colleges: Earlham, Indiana University East, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, and the Purdue University School of Technology.
Richmond, a Stellar finalist for a second consecutive year, already has much to offer, but it now seeks to link the downtown with its surrounding regions. Additional housing, renovation of an antiquated YMCA building, transportation upgrades, and enhancements to the Cardinal Greenway rail-trail are among Richmond’s proposed projects.
Bedford’s Stellar team will present its plan and welcome feedback during a public forum Wednesday, May 8 from 6-8 p.m. at the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce.