October 4th, 2005, 6:30 pm, the Brookville Downtown Revitalization Study public presentation at the Brookville Theater, hosted by Main Street Brookville.
“Have we met before, oh, you’re from Brookville, Indiana? I’ve been through Brookville a few times every year on my way to White’s Sale Barn, the Antique Tractor Show, and to get gas when we’ve been out on the Lake. But I tell you what, I don’t remember downtown Brookville looking like it does now. My wife and kids make me stop on the way in and stay an extra day just to go around to all the downtown sights and shops. What a great change in just a few years time, you must love living here.” Overheard conversation, year 2008.
Tell us honestly, have you heard that type of conversation enough lately? Does it sound over the top to you to be hearing that in the next two to three years? Main Street Brookville wants to put you in a theater seat next Tuesday night and show you what the Downtown Revitalization Study is all about. Yes, the initial study is ready to be presented to the public by KZF Design and the Main Street Committee.
What does the future hold for Downtown? You may have been at the well attended public input meeting this past spring, or one of the membership meetings, or the Courthouse Lawn Bluegrass event, or know someone involved with the organization. It’s all right if you are just curious about what the plans look like. All are welcome, as long as courtesy is maintained. There are many downtown visions and dreams alive in this community, and the toughest job is making them all weave together for longevity and strength. We now have an elected Board of Directors to help make this happen, and their job is to make individual visions transform into community ones and work within the community to foster and grow support.
The are the results of the board election at the September 15th meeting for all Main Street members: Three-year terms – Sid Bradley, Lowell (Teen) McMillin, Mick Wilz; two-year terms – Brad Tebbe, Emily Jarzen, Gary Wolf; one-year term – Suzi Frye, Suzi Gillman, Hermi Niesz.
So we don’t steal the thunder from the meeting, we can’t give any in-depth sneak peeks in this article. A few things which are important to know 1) There is no feature proposed which will displace or harm existing long-term Brookville family businesses; 2) None of the involved parties (board members, business or elected officials, or hired consultants) want our community to turn into Disneyland or Las Vegas. That being said, some of the exciting ideas include a local farmer’s market managed by the County Extension office, gateway areas to riverwalk trails, courthouse lawn renovations to encourage civic and cultural events, and renovations to vacant or existing structures for use as “destination” fine dining restaurants and theaters.
Be sure to mark your calendar
for the October 4th final presentation at 6:30 pm at the Brookville
Theater. Thank you to everyone that has been involved in the process thus far,
and a special thanks to Rick Bender for hosting the meeting at the theater for
our presentation and public kick-off. After listening to the people of
Brookville, KZF Design has assembled what promises to be an exciting display of
what could well be the future of our town!