Nashville is one step closer to receiving millions in state funding.
Today, Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann named Nashville to the list of six finalists for the Stellar Communities program.
The other finalists are the cities of Decatur, Huntingburg, Marion, Mount Vernon and Wabash.
Nashville is the smallest community of the six.
The finalists were selected from 14 applications by the staffs at the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Each finalist community will receive funds to prepare an in-depth strategic investment plan, and will have a site visit by the selection team.
Two of the finalists will be announced as this year’s Stellar Communities later this summer.
Since 2010, six Hoosier communities have been selected from over 60 applicants. These communities receive funding and educational and technical support to make comprehensive economic development plans a reality.
Past awards have ranged from $9.9 to 20 million. To fully implement their plans, communities also have raised or otherwise provided matching funds.
Nashville's projects include repairing water lines, updating the Brown County Courthouse to meet Americans With Disabilities requirements, subsidizing essential repairs to private homes, installing a metal leaf sculpture downtown, finishing the main line of the Salt Creek Trail, improving the look and traffic flow downtown, and redoing the facade on the Brown County Playhouse and producing a play about Brown County there,
Outside of downtown, the application also includes helping to develop a 62-unit retirement apartment complex at the Blue Elk site on State Road 46 East, and building a community activity building and three softball fields at Deer Run Park.