Would you feel safe walking along the Terre Haute side of the Wabash River between the two bridges that connect to West Terre Haute at night?
Probably not.
But if Art Spaces, Inc. — a non-profit arts organization based in Terre Haute — gets its way, that area and other areas within walking distance might become a hangout for droves of Wabash Valley citizens before the end of this decade.
Mary Kramer, executive director of Art Spaces, discussed the "Turn to the River" project that's been in the works since the latter stages of the Kevin Burke mayor administration in 2007.
"Turn to the River is a plan to connect downtown Terre Haute with the Wabash River through public art and design," she reminded the Tribune-Star during a public open house Thursday afternoon in the Mayflower Room of the Hilton Garden Inn.
"The geographic area we're looking at is from Third Street to the river, going through the government campus [primarily the Vigo County Courthouse and City Hall] and on down to a city-owned property, which is at the site of the former bridge abutment [west of where Wabash Avenue ends]."
The project would include a walking promenade along the Wabash River, which the public offered suggestions for during Thursday's open house. Those ranged from the addition of bicycle racks to seating areas, Kramer said.
"We're just looking at all the different amenities and elements of a walkway that will make people feel comfortable and will make it beautiful," she noted.
Between the Courthouse and City Hall, where a civic plaza would be constructed, Kramer and her group are trying to determine whether to keep a water feature such as the current fountain or replace it with something else. Finding a financial sponsor to name the civic plaza after also would be agreeable to her, a smiling Kramer admitted.
"At the river itself, we're looking for ideas for what kinds of performances people would want to see there," she added. "We're looking to make this whole site very inclusive and welcoming to people of all ages and all cultures and backgrounds. So we'll probably create some pieces of art that speak to that subject."
Kramer said Burke first invited Art Spaces into the riverfront redevelopment project before he left office.
Since then, she recalled, Art Spaces received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to start developing its plan.
Kramer said Art Spaces worked on the plan from 2012 to 2014, gathering community input during the process, and she found plenty of interesting conclusions.
"People tend to know what they like and what they want to see and have in their city," she pointed out. "It's really great to engage them in giving ideas.
"The plan was built on a lot of interviews with people about why they don't go to the river, how they feel about their government campus, things like that. People felt about the government campus that they could only think of negative reasons for going there — court or paying a fine or maybe getting a permit — but nothing that they liked to do. Nothing positive."
Art Spaces then advanced to the concept phase of the project in the spring of 2015.
"We brought in professional artists from various parts of the country," Kramer mentioned. "We've just kept moving forward. Today, we're getting input from people on the concepts that were developed over the last couple years so they can respond to the visuals."
Kramer said Art Spaces is currently raising money to create final designs for the project. She's hoping for $125,000 before the end of 2017 to cover design costs. Construction costs, when it's time for building to start, will be much higher, she added.
The plan calls for implementation of the designs to begin within the next couple years. Kramer would like for the government campus part of the project to be concluded by the year of Vigo County's bicentennial — 2018.
"I'd love to have the whole project done within four years," she said, adding that the total cost is likely to hit seven figures. She'll know more about that after the designs are completed.
Kramer admitted that she'd also love for all the construction to be done at the same time, but that's not a necessity with this project.
"It doesn't have to all be done at once," she emphasized. "It won't be designed in such a way that you can't break out parts of it and do them separately. If the funding is slow to come in, then that's how we'll do it."