Downtown Peru could look very different in five years if the city secures “Stellar Communities” grant funding in 2015.
Proposed improvements include a River Walkway Park with splash pad, action sports facility and basketball courts; removal of unsafe buildings to prepare sites for future development; and corridor improvements along North and South Broadway, Canal and East Main streets to extend gateways into the downtown area, according to a planning document prepared by engineering firm American Structurepoint for the city.
The city hired the company for $39,600 in February to help in its application for the “Stellar Communities” grant, which Mayor Jim Walker said could bring the millions of dollars necessary for a major downtown renaissance. The document is one of several worksheets that Walker said painta picture of the vision officials have for the city’s future.
The city will make its application in January, and entrants would be narrowed to finalists. Walker said if the “Stellar Communities” committee visits, officials will have three hours to sell the project to them. He said if the city were chosen, the funds would be available in 2016, and the city would have about four years to complete the work.
“This could transform Peru in a very short window,” he said.
Walker said a 10-person Strategic Investment Plan Committee dreamed big at first and then scaled back so they could “have a product that says ‘This is what we’re going to be going after, this is how we can fund it, this is how we can sustain it and this is the benefit to the community’” to present to officials in 2015 Stellar applications.
He said the main goal of the plan is “improving the quality of life for people who live (in Peru) and those who come to visit us.”
“We think if we can get more people to come into our community and like what they see and spend time with us, it’s going to help the merchants, because they’ll spend their disposable income downtown,” Walker said. “Maybe you’ll have more shops appear downtown because you have more tourism trade.”
The city has also prepared by investing $6,000 in awnings for businesses on North Broadway. Walker said for “a little bit of money” the city could “make that half block look very attractive and say this is what we want to the downtown to look like.”
Cooley’s Bar and Grill was the first business to have its awning installed. Owner Robert Cooley said that even though he already had an awning, he agreed to have his original fabric – yellow bearing his business’ name on it – taken down because he wanted “to be a part of the project for the downtown revitalization.”
Cooley said it “lit a fire” in him.
“If the city is behind it, I’m going to do my part and renovate my whole building,” he said. “I want to the set the example of the way things should be on that street. Rather than just taking a free fabric for the awning, I wanted to go ahead and renovate the entire building.”
Cooley said that renovation included changing the business from a bar to a restaurant and adding exterior décor including logos.
“Hopefully that will jumpstart other people,” he said.
He said an improved downtown would be “better for every business.”
“Just look at Kokomo and Wabash. They had a lot of vacancy, and as soon as they went through revitalization and got grant money, they filled up the store fronts,” he said. “Business is booming for those areas.”
Cooley said the changes would make downtown more attractive “and bring outside people.”
Walker said being proactive is hugely beneficial in the application process.
“We already have sidewalks and lights and planters. We’re not just sitting here saying, ‘If you give us money, we’ll do it.’ No, we’re saying, … ‘With your help, we can complete this and make the whole downtown look like that.’”
Miami County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Jim Tidd, part of the city’s committee, said the grant is “very important” as officials continue to develop the recently-announced Broadway Landing, a similar overhaul north on Broadway bear U.S. 24.
“The worst thing you could have is a lot of vacant buildings,” Tidd said. “That doesn’t necessarily give a good impression when businesses who are looking to locate here tour the community.”
He said developing downtown was important not only for Peru’s growth, but for all of Miami County.
“It would be tremendous for us to get a ‘Stellar Communities’ award,” he said. “It’s a very competitive project among small rural communities like ours. Every citizen in the city as well as Miami County really needs to show pride in our community and show involvement.”
Walker said the plan is a realistic goal, and he thinks “it’s going to happen.”
“I don’t buy these people saying Peru is never going to grow, Peru is never going to get that. … You’ve got to have the right attitude. We have the right attitude here in the city of Peru,” he said.
Walker called the grant “the biggest shot of adrenaline that we could hope for right now” as the city and county fight flagging property tax revenue and face cutting services.
“We’re telling the rest of Indiana, and those outside of Indiana, we’re serious about what we’re talking about,” he said. “We’re going to make downtown more vibrant. We’re going to have arts and entertainment for the people who live here. We’re going to have activities. We’re going to bring tourists in. And by doing that, we’re going to help our local merchants.”