Supporters of Southwestern Indiana’s Regional Cities application say they’ve come up with a list of projects which — if funded — would be “transformational” for Evansville and its surrounding counties.
The Regional Cities Initiative program will provide a total of $84 million in state funding to two applicants — $42 million to each — for projects to strengthen Indiana’s regional cities. The goal is to promote quality of life, regional collaboration and population growth.
On Friday, members of the newly created Southwestern Indiana Regional Development Authority met to approve the 202-page plan, which they are calling “Indiana’s Great Southwest Regional Development Plan.” Monday is the application deadline.
The plan includes funding requests for a dozen projects, including everything from a mixed-use Downtown Riverfront development to research facilities and renovations at Evansville Regional Airport. The plan also includes seven projects that tie in with the others but do not include Regional Cities funding requests.
“I think it’s extremely exciting — the breadth and the depth of the projects and, truly, the transformational nature of them,” said Southwest Indiana Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Christy Gillenwater.
Gillenwater was a member of the steering committee that helped produce the plan.
In all, the projects represent a requested $42 million in Regional Cities funding. But completing all the projects would cost much more than $42 million: The projects would also require more than $200 million in local public funding and more than $600 million in private investment.
The project with the largest single funding request is a medical research center that would be part of Evansville’s planned Downtown medical campus. The plan requests $9 million for this project.
Other projects for which Regional Cities funding is requested:
$5 million to purchase property on which a mixed-use residential/retail/commercial facility would be built along Evansville’s Downtown Riverfront
$5 million for renovations at Evansville Regional Airport
$5 million for a new fitness facility at the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana’s Downtown Evansville campus
$4.33 million for an urban living research center that would include both residential space and energy efficiency/technology research space
$3.17 million to build a series of trails that would connect different parts of Evansville with each other
$3 million for mixed-use housing at Oakland City University
$2.5 million to build an expansion at Signature School
$2 million for a conference center near Victoria National Golf Course in Warrick County
$1.5 million to complete streets, trails and landscaping at Warrick Wellness Trail, a medical/health-focused development district in Warrick County
$1 million for a demonstration project that would improve regional broadband access
A total of $500,000 for five New Harmony projects related to local arts and food
Though many of the projects focus on Evansville, the plan is designed to benefit a four-county region: Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson and Posey.
“What happens here (Evansville) and what’s strong here has a positive impact on the entire region,” said Greg Wathen, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana. Wathen’s organization is providing staff support for the regional development authority.
In addition to the Southwestern Indiana group, a handful of applicants from around Indiana are expected to submit Regional Cities applications.
An Indiana Economic Development Corp. committee will review all the applicants, and the IEDC is expected to choose two winners by the end of this year.