Speedway town manager talks Wilshaw project, Main Street growth
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThere has been a transformation going on just outside of the gates at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Main Street in the town of Speedway is being transformed into an entertainment and restaurant destination for many around central Indiana.
But there’s one project, the Whilshaw Hotel, that just can’t seem to get finished. The 127-room hotel at the corner of 16th and Main streets has been stalled for several years due to financial troubles and, most recently, a foreclosure suit.
Speedway Town Manager Grant Kleinhenz told Around INdiana Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman the long delay is mainly associated with the economy.
“The increased cost of borrowing money has just significantly increased over the past three or four years,” he said. “And that’s made it very challenging to finance a multimillion-dollar project like that. We are doing everything that we can do to hopefully see that hotel ultimately develop.”
But despite the unfinished hotel just across the street from IMS, Speedway’s Main Street continues to grow, especially in the month of May.
“All you have to do is walk down Main Street on any given week night, and you can see the activity in our restaurants or other retailers,” said Kleinhenz. “Our businesses are back and I think Speedway is back.”
Kleinhenz also noted big plans are in the works for the roundabout at 16th & Main between IMS and the Wilshaw project.
“I’m not going to spill any beans on exactly what that is, but it will be an homage to our heritage, both racing our manufacturing and industrial base,” he said. “We have places like Allison Transmission that really have been here for a long time, helped found Speedway and continue to innovate and make the community a great place.”
A time frame for when those plans will be announced was not given.