Signs of hope and progress are precious right now. The surging coronavirus pandemic’s impact has frozen some sectors of the U.S. economy. It has withered others.
Hoosiers and Americans nationwide have lost jobs. A total of 1.1 million people in the U.S. have filed unemployment claims, as of Aug. 15, according to the federal Labor Department. Of those, 11,750 Indiana residents made their initial filings for jobless benefits just last week.
Construction workers are busy in pockets of Terre Haute, though. That is a blessing.
The end result of their work will be structures that will serve community needs and stir economic activity for decades to come. That is a reason for optimism, even as Vigo County and the state confront the sobering public-health realities of the coronavirus.
Construction of the new Vigo County jail is underway on Terre Haute’s south side. Years of public debate and disagreement on its scope and location extended the wait, but were necessary and ensured residents’ voices were heard. Rainy weather earlier this year also stalled building efforts for nearly two months.
Still, progress on the 500-bed, $56.1-million jail is happening. Water services and excavation are complete, and concrete foundations are more than halfway done. Walls are going up, and plumbing and electrical installations are progressing. County officials expect the jail to be under roof by December. The entire facility is scheduled for completion by March 2022.
Likewise, site preparation, and water and electrical service installations have begun downtown on Terre Haute’s new convention center and parking garage. That project, too, has involved contentious moments, but snags are being resolved and work is ongoing.
Uncertainty over parking availability around the convention center cleared this week. The county’s Capital Improvement Board, overseer of the convention center project, ironed out a land-use deal that enable the installation of a surface parking lot at the current site of the Vigo County School Corp. administration building at Seventh and Wabash. The CIB bought the property from the VCSC for $3 million last spring. The corporation will remain at that location until September 2021, and then move its school administration hub elsewhere.
On Wednesday, the CIB approved a 20-year renewable lease of the VCSC lot with Crossroads Parking Partners, headed by Terre Haute businessman Greg Gibson and hotelier Tim Dora. The lot will be used for parking by the nearby Hilton Garden Inn.
The CIB also agreed on an agency to manage the convention center — Spectra Venue. The deal calls for the CIB to pay Spectra $110,000 yearly, plus 3% of gross food and beverage sales at the convention center. Additional incentives for Spectra to bring in conventions were agreed upon, too. The CIB has yet to approve a final contract for the Larry Bird Museum, to be housed inside the convention center, but the bureau did hire a museum design firm last month.
Work on the foundation of the center and parking garage is scheduled to start Sept. 21. The garage should be completed by August 2021, and the center should be done by March 2022. A new $29.5-million Marriott Courtyard hotel also is expected to be built, adding 50 new jobs and a $1.225-million annual payroll.
The $32.5-million convention center is expected to attract a steady flow of new visitors to downtown Terre Haute. Ideally, new businesses will move in to service those convention visitors, and existing businesses will grow and prosper from the new foot traffic. Convention center backers also expect the new Hard Rock “Rocksino” casino — scheduled to open in fall of 2021 on the city’s east side — to entice organizations around the state and Midwest to bring their conventions to the downtown center. A renovated Hulman Center, due to reopen in November, will also bolster the downtown significantly.
COVID-19 has understandably forced delays and reconfiguration of civic projects around the country. The highly infectious disease, with no known cure, has altered plans for Vigo County’s projects, too. Still, continual progress on the jail and convention center serve as reminders that a time after this crisis will come, eventually, and this community will be ready to grow again.
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