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RDC makes history with wellness center contracts
With a much-louder-than-normal “Aye!,”the Greencastle Redevelopment Commission (RDC) Wednesday evening enthusiastically approved contracts for the Greencastle Wellness Center.
Otherwise known as the community center/YMCA, the 70,995-square-foot facility is being built on former Ballard family acreage east of the Walmart Supercenter off South Calbert Way on the city’s East Side.
Contracts approved following a review by Indianapolis attorneys are between the city and the Wabash Valley YMCA, city and Putnam County Hospital and a joint operating agreement.
“Ice Miller has reviewed it,” City Attorney Laurie Hardwick happily reported. “They’re happy. We’re happy. The Hospital Board has signed it. The YMCA has not because they meet tomorrow (Thursday).”
RDC member Gary Lemon was all smiles. “One could argue that this is a done deal,” he suggested. “Don’t we need to dot another I or cross another T? It’s never over ‘til it’s over according to the great philosopher Yogi Berra.”
Hardwick said there had been a couple of minor changes but she “was very excited to present these three documents for your approval tonight.”
“I want to jump up and down, not just sit here,” Lemon said before Gwen Morris, an RDC member since its inception, made the motion to approve all three documents.
Lemon quickly seconded and Councilman Dave Murray, in the City Hall audience, added that he was offering “an honorary third.”
After Brian Cox and Erika Gilmore added affirmative votes, Lemon asked, “Where’s the champagne? I didn’t think I’d live to see this.”
Ryan Penrod of the Wabash Valley YMCA was in the audience and assured the group, “We will sign the contract.”
The $28 million project is the “culmination of a 30-plus-year dream of the community,” Mayor Bill Dory said in announcing Thursday afternoon’s groundbreaking at the site. “It is the long-term partnership between the City of Greencastle, the YMCA of the Wabash Valley and the Putnam County Hospital.”
Meanwhile, Ross Warner of the construction firm Tonn and Blank was attending via Zoom and reported that concrete footings have been dug at the site.
“Right before the meeting today,” Warner said, “we actually started pouring the foundation. The sitework is going well.”
Mayor Dory noted that the sanitary sewer has been installed and both driveways “have been roughed in.”
Dirtwork will be ongoing over the next 10 days, Warner said, while concrete work will continue over the next three weeks to a month, depending on the weather.
“It’s going to be October,” Warner added, “and we know we’re gonna get rain in October.”
That led Lemon to question the game plan for winter.
“I assume when winter comes and it really gets cold, work at the site will have to stop,” he reasoned.
Hopefully work on the building will have progressed to the point where crews can be working inside, Warner responded.
That prompted Lemon to wonder about the latest completion date “when we cut the ribbon and people walk in.”
Final inspection is scheduled for Nov. 22, 2024, Warner said, with a Dec. 20, 2024 opening of the wellness center seen.
“Merry Christmas was what I was thinking,” Lemon commented. “A Christmas present for the city.”
In other wellness center-related business, Mayor Dory told the RDC “hopefully we’ve seen the last of our issues with dirtwork,” alluding to the soil moisture problems that delayed the project throughout the spring and early summer.
The latest work involved 3,600 cubic yards of dirt at a cost of $39,160. The RDC will see a changeorder on the dirtwork at its Oct. 25 meeting, set for 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Dory noted that dirt has been stockpiled on the site, which accounts for the “big hill out there,” in anticipation of a couple of projects in the next year.
In other business, the RDC:
-- Heard Cox, a member of the RDC and the Greencastle School Board, report that work is under way on the 2024-25 school calendar in hopes of pushing back the starting date and coordinating spring break with the other county schools and, if possible, DePauw University. Lemon, a DPU professor, said the 2024-25 DePauw calendar has already been set.
-- Heard Mayor Dory report that Poplar Street paving is expected next week, regular city street resurfacing is still to come and the sidewalk project is under way.
-- Heard Dory note that the waterline is in service on Albin Pond Road, while resurfacing of the street is expected to be a Community Crossings project target next spring. “It’s been on the list to do,” the mayor noted, “but we didn’t want to do it until the waterline was in.” However, as part of city surfacing work, a section Arlington Street will be milled and overlaid to Houck Road, extending work that had been planned to Tacoma Drive.
-- Heard the mayor report that North Jackson Street will be closed for up to four weeks of work north of the railroad tracks as a storm sewer is installed along the southbound lane. For several weeks, there will be no southbound traffic in that area, he said, noting he has encouraged INDOT to get Frazier Street open so it can be used as a detour. The work is necessary to replace the city force main before a 54-inch storm sewer is installed during the next round of U.S. 231 reconstruction work.
Gilmore, Morris, Lemon and Cox were all in attendance for the historic meeting, while RDC member Stacie Langdon was absent. Also joining Hardwick, Murray and Mayor Dory for the session were City Council members Veronica Pejril and Russell Harvey.