Renderings for updated Fifth and Main redevelopment with small park. Provided by Hafer
EVANSVILLE — An architectural firm will develop a vision for the small Main Street park that had carpet on the ground for several years.
Hafer received a design contract Wednesday in a unanimous Evansville Redevelopment Commission vote. It’s for the first phase of a process, with compensation of $45,000 plus expenses.
The land at Main and Southeast Fourth streets, which had been a dog park, is not currently in use and cordoned off by fencing. Owned by the Evansville Water & Sewer Utility, it’s on the same block as the 18-story former Old National Bank tower and another building.
More: Tax credits sought to help fund 420 Main demolition, new project for Downtown Evansville
A developer plans to tear down those two buildings as part of a new retail and residential project on the block.
Jeff Justice with Hafer said the park property will complement the large project planned by Domo Development.
“We want to identify all of the possible uses, brainstorm about all the ideas and come up with a real concept that helps the entire community form a destination place and interact with the whole development that Domo has in mind,” Justice told the Redevelopment Commission.
Randy Alsman, who was re-elected Wednesday as president of the Redevelopment Commission, said the corner “will be transformed into a more useful, attractive public space that will be used as much as possible.”
Officials pointed to a 2016 master plan for Downtown Evansville, which said the space should be used as park-like gathering spot.
Domo Development's vision for the block includes two newly built structures, with brick and steel framing. They are viewed as having mixed uses, with commercial spaces on ground floors with residences above.
The timing of the project, according to city officials, depends on the developer's application for $18.4 million in tax credits from the state. They expect an answer soon. If the answer is affirmative, the project could get underway this year.
The developer plans to have the 18-floor tower that once was Old National Bank's headquarters being imploded — yes, imploded. That promises to be quite a spectacle; it's the tallest building within a 120-mile radius of Evansville. The tower was erected in 1970.
Justice said his firm, Hafer, is involved in planning the larger 5th & Main project, and the inlet park will interact well with it.
“My excitement level is at an all-time high," Justice told the Redevelopment Commission.
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