Facade work continues downtown; South Jackson RR crossing eyed

Friday, February 5, 2016
Work resumes Friday morning on the facade of the Sharon Hammond law office at the corner of Indiana and Franklin streets in Greencastle. The Lebanon firm 3-D Professional Contracting Inc. has received a two-month extension to finish Phase II of the facade work that is one of the final projects connected with the $19 million Stellar Grant the City of Greencastle was awarded in March 2011.

Putting a face on the final stages of Greencastle's Stellar Grant project, facade work continues in several locations in and around the courthouse square area.

Moore's Bar, MetroNet and adjacent buildings are getting their construction facials along South Indiana Street.

On the south side of the square, work continues, albeit almost incognito behind a wooden barrier in front of the building that last housed Mason Jewelers before it ventured out to its new Putnam Plaza location.

On the north side of the courthouse square, the Sharon Hammond law office building at the northwest corner of Franklin and North Indiana streets has undergone an extreme makeover. A crew was busy installing windows there on Friday after fashioning essentially a new brick front to the corner structure.

Now that good weather has returned, 3-D Professional Contracting Inc., the Lebanon firm undertaking the second round of the facade work portion of the Stellar Grant, is back at it.

"Facade work is going strong as weather permits," Mayor Bill Dory told the Greencastle Redevelopment Commission at its recent meeting.

City Attorney Laurie Hardwick agreed.

"They've obviously been working and installing windows and more," Hardwick said, adding in reference to 3-D, "they just can't do any (exterior) painting at this point."

That is partially why 3-D asked for a two-month extension to finish the Phase II facade work, a project that got off to a later start due to delays in the state finalizing the contract, Hardwick advised.

The Redevelopment Commission granted that extension request on a unanimous vote following a motion by Gwen Morris.

Meanwhile, the commission also agreed to a not-to-exceed $3,000 expense to cover the fee to develop a contract with CSX Railroad. That is seen as the "first step" toward a long overdue project to redo the railroad crossing south of the bowling alley on South Jackson Street/Manhattan Road.

The curved nature of the crossing -- a "goofy skew," it was noted -- is one issue, compounded by the lack of shoulder presence. While there is no curb and no gutter at the location, the traffic lane width itself is very narrow.

"It doesn't meet any real standards (of transportation design)," Mayor Dory noted, adding that new signal installation is also necessary for the railroad crossing.

The contract move does not obligate the city to do any construction, Dory noted, adding that the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has been "very vague" on the possibility of grant dollars being available to fund the reconstruction effort.

Dory said he had "no clue yet" on the exact cost of construction, noting only that it could likely run into "six figures." Engineering alone on the project has been estimated at $30,000-$35,000.

"If a decision is made to continue with the project," the mayor said with a shrug, "the likelihood is it will fall on our shoulders."

Looking for grant dollars is "basically a longshot," Dory conceded, as INDOT is likely to put its available resources behind other more high-traffic areas of concern in larger communities.

South Jackson is essentially Greencastle's second busiest street, it was pointed out, while Manhattan Road is considered the busiest of all county roadways so the project looms important and necessary.

Right-of-way acquisition will also be necessary in order to properly improve the railroad crossing. More information on that process is expected at the next Redevelopment Commission meeting, set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 2.

The Redevelopment Commission is chaired by Erika Gilmore with Morris, Gary Lemon and Drew Brattiain (who was absent) as voting members.

One vacancy exists on the commission with Tanis Monday having moved outside city limits. Her successor is expected to be named at the City Council meeting Tuesday night (7 p.m., City Hall).

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