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Aug 31 2018
Love0

Major changes in the works for Elkhart’s Civic Plaza and Central Park

By Elkhart, Featured News One Comment

There’s even more exciting news for downtown Elkhart, with the city’s Redevelopment Commission moving forward with efforts to improve the Civic Plaza and Central Park.

The goal of the project is to create a more engaging downtown space for residents and visitors to gather year-round during major events and day-to-day use. Vibrant Communities supports projects that enhance community gathering places.

Here is the full text of the city of Elkhart’s press release on the Civic Plaza and Central Park:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2018

Elkhart Redevelopment Commission selects REA as
design team for placemaking project at Central Plaza

ELKHART (August 28, 2018) – The Elkhart Redevelopment Commission has selected a design team for a placemaking* project on the Civic Plaza and Central Park (Central Plaza) in downtown Elkhart. Rundell Ernstberger Associates (REA) will work in tandem with city staff and most importantly, the community, to develop a design for the space that facilitates better utilization – both daily and during events – and creates a vibrant civic gathering place.

“In just three years, we went from hosting five downtown events to over 50,” said Elkhart Mayor Tim Neese. “With so much activity and investment in the area, it has prompted an important discussion about how we utilize the Central Plaza and how it serves as the center of downtown activity. My vision for a revitalized downtown is a modern area, with additional public and private amenities, that accommodates large events as well as daily social engagement. The design must appeal to residents and visitors of all ages and give them a reason to visit the park year-round.”

REA specializes in providing urban design, landscape architecture, planning, and civil engineering services. The firm has worked with the City of Elkhart for many years on various planning and economic development initiatives, including the 2017 update to the City’s Central Business District Development and Design Standards. They have also worked as a prime consultant and collaborator to corporations, municipalities, governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, private institutions, and universities in more than 20 states. One such project is Detroit’s Campus Martius Park, which has been named one of the best public squares in the U.S. and Canada by Project for Public Spaces, Inc. Locally, REA also planned and designed Beutter Park in Mishawaka’s Riverfront District.

In total, the City received 12 proposals and evaluated each one based on experience, past performance, quality, and a demonstrated understanding of the project. Strong consideration was also given to the consultant’s experience in creative community engagement, as any successful endeavor must reflect the needs and perspectives of those who live, work, and play in the downtown.

“I am excited by the opportunity to hear from residents and incorporate their feedback in a transformational project that reflects our unique identity and encourages private investment in adjacent areas,” Neese said. “Placemaking is the future of economic development and plays an undeniable role in talent attraction and retention. It is important that residents feel connected to local parks and want to provide feedback that will help improve their quality of life and the City as a whole.”

The Redevelopment Commission expects a total budget of $1.5 million for this project, inclusive of all expenses and paid by the downtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenue. TIF is generated by local property tax investments in designated areas in the City and must be used to fund local public improvements in the same area. The planning process will begin in September and is anticipated to take three to four months to complete.

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*Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Placemaking capitalizes on a local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people’s health, happiness, and well-being.

Aug 28 2018
Love0

Elkhart’s River District project gaining momentum with major changes

By Countywide, Elkhart, Featured News No Comments

By Marshall V. King

Elkhart’s River District is still a vision off in the future, but it’s easier to see as buildings come down and streets take shape.

As the Elkhart Aquatic Center continues to take shape before opening in May 2019 and the streets and sidewalk around it are being made with all the utilities buried beneath them, those who have been crafting the vision are getting even more excited about the future. “This feels real,” said Shelley Moore, the project lead and president of ISC Community Development.

The River District’s 105 acres, with another 45 along Jackson Boulevard east of Johnson, are being transformed into a modern, walkable urban center.

Fourteen people from Elkhart, mostly private investors who are putting money toward the $300 million River District, recently traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, to learn more about how it has been revitalized in the last two decades since the textile mills left. Greenville, like Elkhart, is one of the manufacturing towns with rivers and less than 150,000 residents that is working at being a new kind of city rather than a rusty, industrial shell. Others on that list include Asheville, Grand Rapids and Fort Wayne.

WATCH: Dave Weaver and Bob Deputy discuss the major changes coming to downtown Elkhart

Inside INdiana Business

While there, Dave Weaver, chairman of the River District Implementation Team, said he saw how public/private partnerships, a mile-long Main Street and walkability, as well as pride in aesthetics, has helped change the city into an automotive hub for makes such as BMW.

Whether it’s Greenville or downtown Vegas, success happened not because of luck or a lucky bolt of redevelopment lightning. “The reality is someone made a decision and at some point they were going to execute on a vision,” he said. “As a community, we made that decision.”

Elkhart has been working at vibrancy for decades with the RiverWalk, Lerner Theatre and Wellfield Botanic Gardens, said Pete McCown, president of the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. “Now there’s a group of folks who caught the excitement for the River District and Aquatic Center,” he said.

The change is happening quickly as the River District takes shape. “Everybody is ready for big change,” Weaver said. Greenville and other places show what’s possible when, over time, a city integrates what it has to offer, said Weaver.

In Elkhart, the project is moving quickly.

Redeveloping a big chunk of downtown has a lot of moving parts and most of them are coming together neatly like cogs. The Elkhart City Council approved the River District plan as part of its master plan for downtown, helping assure that it becomes the map for what happens in the coming years.

Nearly 30 properties on the north side of East Jackson Boulevard will be coming down in the coming days. Most of those were residential properties, but the demolition of former businesses such as Edgerton’s Travel Service and The Moringa Tree could soon follow.

The first phase of making East Jackson Boulevard part of what will be a 105-acre walkable neighborhood is done and reopened. That’s a huge deal for those businesses that were affected by the closure, said Weaver.

Jackson Boulevard in downtown Elkhart is being transformed into a pedestrian friendly roadway that also accommodates on-street parking. (Photo by Marshall V. King)

The second phase is underway and should be completed by Labor Day, said Moore. Trees, light posts and street signs are expected this fall and Elkhart Avenue is expected to reopen by Thanksgiving.

“You’ll continue to see a lot of working being done,” said Weaver.

The former Alick’s building along East Jackson is also being scheduled for demolition after a number of years of vacancy. Redeveloping that plot along the river should be relatively easy, said Weaver.

The Elkhart Public Works employees have been meeting deadlines and the implementation team continues to work at upcoming stages. Flaherty & Collins’ luxury apartments are a few months behind schedule, but a spring opening is still being planned, said Moore.

By the end of September, a Request For Proposal process for Zone 1 will give developers a chance to submit specific plans for the area that includes the Aquatic Center a few blocks on the south side of East Jackson. The final stages of funding are also being put in place for the new Martin’s Super Market along East Jackson and construction could start this fall, according to Moore.

A vibrant downtown makes a community stronger. “A town is as good as its downtown,” Moore said.

Marshall V. King is a Goshen-based free-lance writer. He wrote this piece on behalf of Vibrant Communities.

Aug 24 2018
Love2

Love Where You Live: Lucky and family found Elkhart was on their side

By Elkhart, Featured News 2 Comments

By Marshall V. King

Sok Hou Kao and his wife, Chanliny Dim, drove into Goshen late one night in 1994.

They didn’t speak English or even have a GPS. After getting lost, others stopped traffic for them on the Indiana Toll Road to get back on track.

The couple known as Lucky and Mrs. Lucky packed a U-Haul and brought their dreams and two little boys to Elkhart County because “we heard this is a small town and it’s easy to raise kids here,” said Dim.

They’d both escaped Cambodia into Thailand and met briefly in a refugee camp before getting reacquainted and married in California.

In 1997, they opened a doughnut shop in the former Deboni bakery, which had been an Italian institution in Elkhart, and served hot food that evolved into her offering the food of southeast Asia. Customers came to love his doughnuts and her cooking. They learned to know their customers. “We know each other for a long time,” she said.

Sok Hou Kao arrived in Elkhart County almost 25 years with all their belongings in a trailer and have built a successful restaurant and made many friends. (Photos by Grant Beachy)

Customers coming for pad thai and spring rolls watched their three children grow up. Their son, Siha Kao, is helping at Lucky’s Donuts at 700 W. Bristol St., Elkhart, and his brother, Silong Kao, is preparing to open Kao’s Pâtè Sandwiches & Bubble Tea in downtown Elkhart. Now two grandchildren are growing up at Lucky’s just like the boys did with their sister, Simontha. Growing up in Elkhart gave them opportunities, said Siha.

In recent years, people from all over the world find Lucky’s online as they visit Elkhart County. The come to Lucky’s first for doughnuts. Then they come back for lunch, said Dim.

The community has embraced the family. “Elkhart helped him do business, get it started, get established,” said Siha.

A lot of years have passed since that night they first arrived. They’re part of the community now. They feel grateful — and lucky to have found this place.

Marshall V. King is a free-lance journalist based in Goshen. He wrote this piece for Vibrant Communities.

More Love Where You Live:

Aug 16 2018
Love0

WATCH: More than ever, Elkhart County residents love where they live

By Countywide, Elkhart, Featured News, Goshen, Middlebury & Bristol, Nappanee & Wakarusa No Comments

Since its inception, Vibrant Communities has been all about highlighting and developing the tremendous assets of Elkhart County and, at the foundation, encouraging residents to take pride in where they love.

The initiative launched the Little BIG Idea Grant to encourage small but meaningful projects that reinforced community pride and celebrated the people who brought forth those ideas.

Watch Diana Lawson, Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO, and Elkhart County Commissioner Suzie Weirick talk about the achievements of Vibrant Communities on Inside INdiana Business:

Inside INdiana Business

Aug 07 2018
Love1

Love Where You Live: Kim Clarke keeps Middlebury on the move

By Countywide, Featured News, Middlebury & Bristol No Comments

By Marshall V. King

Kim Clarke has a knack for putting ideas into action.

Take the pumpkin race she brought to Middlebury last fall, helped along by winning one of the first Little Big Idea Grants. Decorated orange orbs going down a hill raised money to help an organization serving those with autism. The second annual race will also aid those with autism or other developmental delays.

This summer, folks are putting their faces in the 20 Faces of Middlebury after she approached former town manager Lowell Miller to make them with other woodworkers at Greencroft Middlebury and local artist Linda Pieri painted them. People can put their own face on top of a historic costume.

Clarke helped plan a literary festival at Middlebury Public Library and is now working on a “reading invasion” for this fall. She has plans for more faces next year, a set of birdhouses, and ways to involve more people in the town she loves.

“This is my home. I love it here,” said the retired accountant who now works hard as a volunteer.

She’s so excited about Middlebury and what’s happening in Elkhart County. As she sat in the Krider World’s Fair Garden, originally designed for the 1933-34 World’s Fair, she said she wants people who live here to know and share the stories. “We need to get younger people involved so they can continue the story,” she said.

She’s been active for many years and in late 2014, Clarke got involved with the state’s Bicentennial celebration. That led to helping plan Middlebury’s 180th birthday celebration in 2016. That’s led to ongoing work with others in the community, including on the self-guided town tour that is now in its third edition.

Kim Clarke helped bring to life the Faces of Middlebury display in 2018. “This is my home. I love it here,” she says. (Photo by Grant Beachy)

“If you want to be part of the community, you need to get engaged,” she said. “I’ve just made a lot of new friends.”

Her love for this place is infectious. And she has a lot more ideas.

Marshall V. King is a Goshen-based free-lance writer. He wrote this on behalf of Vibrant Communities.

More Love Where You Live:

Jul 30 2018
Love0

Love Where You Live: For Kings, getting involved is a team effort

By Countywide, Goshen, Middlebury & Bristol No Comments

Levi and Joanna King have been married 27-plus years, and their legacy in the community certainly will extend far longer than that.

The Kings, profiled in 2017 in the Goshen Through My Eyes series, are deeply invested in Elkhart County. They own businesses in Goshen and Middlebury and are involved in many civic projects.

Joanna serves on the Goshen Theatre board, which is in the midst of a major fundraising campaign, while Levi is on the boards of the Goshen Chamber of Commerce and Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“Our projects don’t always make money, but that’s not why we do them. It’s called giving back. You do what you can to make some of these exciting projects happen to better the community,” said Levi.

Read more about Levi and Joanna King at Good of Goshen’s website.

 

Jul 12 2018
Love1

Love Where You Live: Phyllis Miller digs deep into Elkhart County’s farm, food cultures

By Countywide, Goshen No Comments

By Marshall V. King

When Phyllis Miller was growing up in Middlebury, her uncle often planted an acre of sweet corn in the spring. When it came time for harvest, the family would gather. True to the family’s Amish heritage, the young people would remove the silk from the corn and it was a rite of passage to join the adults in cutting the corn off the cob. When everyone was done, each family took home a portion.

In the decades since, Miller has continued working cooperatively in Elkhart County in hopes that everyone gets a share. The retired nurse and project manager lived and worked briefly in Seattle, but after coming home tended her deep roots here. Growing up on a farm and having Amish relatives gave her passion for community and hard work.

Since retiring from Elkhart General Hospital after 34 years, she has more time to volunteer. She’s focused on economic systems that work for people. In the Vibrant Communities planning process in 2016, Elkhart County residents singled out the importance of local food as an Action Agenda item: “Promote the use of local foods and native plantings.”

“What’s going to change this country is one community at a time like Elkhart County,” says Phyllis Miller. (Photo by Grant Beachy)

Miller is leading the Elkhart County Food Council to help local food producers and eaters find each other. “We just need a way to connect,” she said. Miller helped 13 Amish farmers sell baskets of food each week to 100 Beacon Health System subscribers.

Prior to the food council, she’s been passionately volunteering as a board member for Maple City Market, a member-owned co-op in Goshen. She touts Seed to Feed as a creative solution to help people find fresh food. She volunteers for Ten Thousand Villages, which uses fair trade to help others. She believes in democracy and principled capitalism to help other humans. That work is her form of ministry.

“What’s going to change this country is one community at a time like Elkhart County,” she said.

Marshall V. King is a Goshen-based free-lance writer. He wrote this on behalf of Vibrant Communities.

More Love Where You Live:

Jul 05 2018
Love0

Artists finding plenty of inspiration in Elkhart County

By Countywide, Elkhart, Featured News, Goshen, Little Big Idea Grant, Middlebury & Bristol, Nappanee & Wakarusa No Comments

In every corner of Elkhart County, art in all its forms, from galleries to gardens, is flourishing.

With initiatives such as the Mayor’s Arts Council and events such as the River Bend Film Festival, the city of Goshen’s investment in arts projects is paying off.

Here’s a look inside the development of Goshen’s arts community in this video produced by Good of Goshen:

The city is also home to several groups such as the Goshen Painters Guild, Goshen Clay Artists Guild, Goshen Jewelers Guild and the Photographers Guild.

Here are some other sights from recent Goshen arts events:

Not to be outdone, arts events are a big deal throughout Elkhart County.

Elkhart’s ongoing ArtWalk series brings life to downtown on the second Wednesday of each month.


The Nappanee Arts Council unveiled a new public art display, Flower Gardens Art in Bloom, in May. The works were aided by the Little BIG Idea Grant.

One of the pieces in Flower Gardens Art in Bloom, the city of Nappanee’s newest public art exhibition for summer 2018.

Interactive public art was the approach taken in Middlebury for the Faces of Middlebury project.

Jul 02 2018
Love2

Love Where You Live: Rodney Dale pays forward life lessons to Elkhart kids

By Elkhart No Comments

By Marshall V. King

When Rodney Dale was a boy, he played football and basketball with other boys in the neighborhood.

When he got to junior high and high school in Elkhart, coaches helped shape him into an athlete and a young man preparing for adulthood.

“For me it was the opportunity be part of a family, make some memories, and enjoy the sport,” he said.

As an adult, he realizes how much that coaching and mentoring from men such as Jim Eger, Dan Randolph and Ron Stork meant to him.

“I needed that mentoring I got,” he said.

Rodney Dale mentors Elkhart kids in much the same way that adults he looked up to did. “Make it happen,” Rodney says.

Now he works to make sure that if someone needs a mentor, particularly a boy in fifth or sixth grade, they get a mentor too. He’s mentoring nine young men at five Elkhart schools. They’re often boys without a father active in their lives.

For Dale, it’s a simple equation. If you have a chance to make a difference, you do it. “Make it happen,” he said.

Week after week, he does. “I think I’m in a position to influence in a positive way. The kids will listen to me,” said the division chief at the Elkhart Fire Department.

Since coming back to Elkhart after a few years of college and joining the fire department in 1996, Dale has mentored hundreds of young people. He was a coach for his son and daughter’s athletic teams and mentored in that role. Often, he shows up at school and spends time listening and talking to young people. He emphasizes that grades matter. He encourages them and celebrates their successes. “We have a lot of opportunities here ranging from factory work to being some kind of business professional,” he said.

He wants young people who grow up here to be successful for years to come in Elkhart County, but that doesn’t just happen. It takes people mentoring and walking alongside. So Dale simply does that for as many young people as he can to build a better community.

Marshall V. King is a Goshen-based free-lance writer. He wrote this on behalf of Vibrant Communities.

More Love Where You Live:

Jun 19 2018
Love0

Try a LimeBike yet? Bike-share service makes a splash in Elkhart

By Elkhart, Featured News One Comment

You can’t miss those bright green bikes in the Elkhart.

And you shouldn’t pass on the chance to take a LimeBike for a spin. It’s only $1 after all! (And easy to use — here’s a quick primer.)

Riding a LimeBike requires an app and scanning the QR code.

The bike-share service recently started offering its bikes in downtown Elkhart. With Mayor Tim Neese and Levon Johnson, president of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, cheering on the effort, several took their first (free) ride on a LimeBike at the launch event June 13, 2018, on the Civic Plaza.

We love having these bikes around and how that is helping Elkhart County be a more bikeable community!

 

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