Terre Haute mayor focuses on downtown growth
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTerre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett conveys optimism in his voice when talking about the new convention center in the downtown area and how it is serving as an economic catalyst. He says the $25 million venue, which opened in April, is attracting new businesses, including a restaurant and two proposed hotels. While the convention center is just eight months old, it has hosted local events and several small conventions.
“I was just there…for an early morning event, and there were two different things going on there. Just seeing all those people moving around in the hallways and the business of it is a big change for us,“ said Bennett during an appearance on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
The mayor says to attract bigger events and increase overnight stays, downtown Terre Haute needs additional hotel rooms. Right now, accommodations are anchored by a Hilton Garden Inn & Candlewood Suites, but he says developers are in the early stages of laying out plans for two new hotels near 7th Street and Wabash Avenue.
“That’ll give us 400 rooms. So, as we learn how to do this convention center thing and begin to build the business in the future, that’ll be the next thing [that] will really push us to that next realm of larger conventions, more people, more days. That’s what we’re targeting,” said Bennett.
The mayor says the two downtown hotels “run at a very high occupancy rate” between visitors to Indiana State University, other businesses and the convention center.” These next two will really help us play in that bigger market.”
Bennett says there is no specific timeline on the hotel projects, but he hopes the developers will break ground by the end of 2023.
The downtown will also see the opening of a new restaurant, The Terminal Public House, a short distance from the convention center. It’s inside the Terminal Arcade, a century-old building that once served as an interurban train station and later the city’s bus terminal.
“They’ll be opening soon. But that’s the kind of thing we need to look at, in this next part of the growth of downtown is more things for people to do, whether it’s retail, restaurants, a variety of things,” Bennett said.
The four-term mayor says the timing is right for a new downtown strategic plan, which was first unveiled shortly after he took office in 2008. Bennett says the vision is not only about attracting visitors to use the amenities, but to attract residents to live downtown.
“We’ve had some good accomplishments and some things that didn’t happen. But now it’s time to revise and update [the plan] and try to figure out how do we bring more people downtown to live, like everybody’s trying to do.”
He says to attract residents will require support services, like a grocery store and a pharmacy. Bennett to facilitate that growth, the city will seek private investment and partnerships to attract economic development.
