One thing you can bank on following the latest Greencastle Board of Zoning Appeals action is that historic old financial institutions on the courthouse square are planning new life as hotels.
For the second time in two years the BZA last week approved a special exception for a hotel in the Central Business District. First, in June 2023, it was the old Central National Bank building at the corner of Washington and Jackson streets that Public Enemy No. 1 John Dillinger made famous in a 1933 robbery. Work is under way on converting it into a 10-room hotel.
Last Tuesday it was the sprawling old First Citizens Bank/Old National Bank building at 1 N. Indiana St. that was granted a special exception to serve as a hotel and awarded a development standards variance to allow a building height exceeding the 60-foot maximum in the Central Business District.
Developer Jim Mullin, a DePauw University graduate and one-time Banner Graphic advertising representative, said he has been working on the First Citizens/Old National project for three years, contemplating a 46-room facility or “all that would fit utilizing the existing building.”
Built in 1863 as Abe Lincoln was in the White House and barbed wire was awaiting a patent, conversion of the historic structure “has been a bit of a passion project” for the Greencastle Hospitality group, Mullin said.
Not unexpectedly, parking became the dominant issue during discussion at the one-hour meeting.
Local attorney Scott Bieniek, whose office is at 3 E. Franklin St., said he was not in opposition to the project but was raising the issue of parking, something he had also done during the BZA hearing on the other bank site.
Having lived through the parking issues that coincided with the 2013 Wilsons’ Photography fire, construction of Bridges and the U.S. 231 reconstruction, Bieniek said parking — or the lack of it — remains his “biggest concern.”
BZA member Paul Champion said parking has been an issue ever since he came to Greencastle in 2007.
“Parking’s always been a problem,” he said. “I’m not minimizing it by saying that.”
Mullin noted that the purchase of the bank property included the parking lot at 205 N. Vine, which has 40 spaces.
Parking in downtown Greencastle, Mullin assessed, is “a bigger problem than one hotel or one restaurant or one bar.”
Calling parking “a valid concern,” the petitioner added that “it is top of mind” and “something we all need to work on.”
Mullin said the Greencastle Hospitality group had questioned local employers and DePauw University officials as to the need for a downtown hotel and got “a very positive yes.”
BZA member Kevin Verhoff said the board is “trying to balance the general welfare,” addressing the desire for no empty buildings downtown, noting “we all want a vibrant downtown with buildings occupied.”
The last thing anyone wants is a stagnant downtown, agreed realtor Eric Wolfe, who represented Greencastle Hospitality in the purchase. “If we don’t continue to grow, we won’t be able to go for grants.”
He said the hotel project is an excellent opportunity for the community in that it will raise property values, provide employment and help create a chance for showcasing grant opportunities.
City Planner Blaine Rout addressed the size of old bank buildings in today’s society, noting that financial institutions don’t have a need for that much space anymore having transformed where the need for cash, a large staff of tellers, security and more has dwindled through the popularity of the debit/credit card.
Such buildings could become nuisance issues if empty, Rout said, adding that he believes it is”important we prevent it from being chopped up into a thousand different pieces” since the history of the building is important to Greencastle.
As for the building height variance, developers plan a rooftop bar similar to that at Bridges, 19 N. Indiana St.
Both the special exception for the hotel and the variance for the height were passed unanimously after respective motions from Verhoff and John Phillips.
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