Funding delayed for downtown parking solutions

Friday, July 11, 2014
A plan to pave the gravel lot behind the Greencastle Moose Lodge has been delayed, but city officials plan to commence on the project as soon as possible.

The funding for the city to pave the Moose Lodge parking lot will be delayed another month, the Greencastle City Council learned this week.

Mayor Sue Murray told the council that officials from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) had previously informed the city that no hurdles remained to the city paving the lot behind Moose Lodge.

That news changed recently when word came from the IHCDA that the plan would need to be publicized again -- this despite previous legal advertisements and two stories in the Banner Graphic.

With an advertisement running on July 9, residents will now have 30 days to comment on the plan, "just to be safe."

Contractors had been ready to move forward with work on the lot -- comprised of everything east of the building and bounded by Washington, Market and Franklin streets just a block west of the courthouse square -- earlier this week, but will now have to wait.

The city and the Moose agreed on a purchase price of $100,000 in March, and plans have been moving forward in the months since.

The proposed lot will be coupled with another planned free parking lot on the property bounded by Jackson, Walnut and Indiana streets south of the square following prior acquisition of the First Christian Church parking lot and the old Darrell Felling law office building.

The two lots will provide free parking in lieu of building a 146-space garage on the Walnut Street property, a plan that was canceled last year when proposals came in more than $1 million over estimates.

The parking solutions are among the final pieces of the city's $19.2 million Stellar Grant effort to get underway.

While the lot south of the square would be ready for construction, it cannot move forward due to current construction on Indiana Street, another portion of the Stellar effort.

Despite the roadblocks, Murray and other city officials remain confident that the work can be completed in 2014.

Elsewhere in the Stellar efforts, Murray reported that Indiana Street work is ongoing and remains on target for a mid-August reopening.

Additionally, architecture firm Odle McGuire Shook is close to finalizing plans for the second round of façade work on downtown buildings.

Positive construction news is coming from Robe-Ann Park, where the Bob York Memorial Splash Park is taking shape, Parks and Recreation Director Rod Weinschenk reported.

Equipment installation has begun at the splash pad.

"We have three dimensions," Weinschenk said. "It's not just a concrete slab. We have pieces of equipment."

The culmination of a three-year effort by the Greencastle Civic League and the city is just around the corner with the opening of the park. The "Splash Bash" grand opening is set for Aug. 4, but a soft opening will likely be sooner.

In other news:

* Council approved the closure of Indiana and Franklin streets on Aug. 23 for the Greencastle Summer Music Festival, presented by Almost Home and the Swizzle Stick.

Council members expressed their happiness to work with owner Gail Smith on the effort, noting past success of the event.

"I'm just glad to see something going on downtown," President Adam Cohen said.

The closure of the streets -- which will commence at 8 a.m. or whenever the Greencastle Farmers Market is done in the area -- was approved, along with a noise waver for the late evening hours.

* Council approved the second reading of an ordinance to reestablish the cumulative capital development fund.

* Clerk-Treasurer Lynda Dunbar reported that 2015 budget season is just around the corner. She requested that two councilmen be placed on the budget committee.

Mark Hammer and T.J. Smith volunteered for the committee.

Dunbar said she should have budget packets ready for all council members for the August meeting.

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  • About the dog park at Big Walnut Sports Park-I recently drove by and did not see any dog waste receptacles w/small plastic bags for dog waste. Was this an oversight? Or will users be walking around in dog waste?

    -- Posted by Lookout on Fri, Jul 11, 2014, at 12:11 PM
  • People should come prepared to pick up after their own dog.

    -- Posted by Geologist on Sat, Jul 12, 2014, at 2:31 PM
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