READI funds supporting White River transformation plans
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOfficials in central Indiana plan to use funding from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI, to fuel revitalization of the White River. The White River Regional Opportunity Initiative (WR-ROI), the regional development authority for central Indiana’s READI bid, received a $20 million allocation from the program in December 2021. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness calls the funding a first step in making the river a catalyst for redevelopment and placemaking in the region.
Fadness and Visit Indy Director of Destination Development Brad Beaubien talked about the efforts along the river with Around INdiana Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman.
“I give Citizens Energy and the city of Indianapolis a lot of credit for cleaning up the White River. I mean, the White River isn’t what it once was. It’s far better than what we saw maybe 10 or 20 or 30 years ago in terms of water quality,” Fadness said. “So, with that fundamental improvement now we can build upon that. And I think what you’re seeing now is…you have these opportunities for kind of revitalization and utilization of the water.”
The WR-ROI covers Hamilton, Madison and Marion counties, as well as Zionsville in Boone County and McCordsville in Hancock County.
Both Fadness and Beaubien said the goal is to utilize the river to not only attract more visitors to the region, but also the next generation of the workforce.
“We sometimes lament we don’t have a ski resort nearby. We don’t have beaches to retreat on. We don’t have a great lake to embrace. But we had this beautiful natural amenity flowing through the heart of Central Indiana’s economic and population engine,” Beaubien said. “This is the thing that we can turn into a draw for visitors and draw for talent and people to move to our region. And also for the people that are here are a cornerstone for their quality of life.”
Beaubien said officials have a grand vision to create a “national park-like amenity” with a network of active places, large and small parks, and cultural amenities like Newfields in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Zoo and Conner Prairie in Fishers.
Fadness says his city already has plans along those lines.
” [At] 96 and Allisonville, we’ll be creating a park there that will definitely create an opportunity for that passive experience,” he said. “Marion County has some opportunities to improve the White River in certain areas. And then there’s a larger, broader vision, but people shouldn’t be scared by big visions. Those things happen over 40-50 years and you never know where the next opportunity might come. So I think we’re going to develop some proofs of concept along the river.”
Click here to view the regional development plan submitted for READI funding by WR-ROI.
Part of the effort to revitalize the river is continuing to focus on cleaning it up.
More than half of the 28-mile DigIndy tunnel system is now operating. The $2 billion project, which started almost 11 years ago, is designed to stop sewage from dumping into the White River and other central Indiana waterways.
The project is on track to finish in 2025.