We have reported several times over the past few months that Fishers city officials were deep in talks with the Indianapolis Airport Authority over developing land currently unused at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport.  The facility runs along the area of 96th Street, 106th Street, Hague Road and Allisonville Road.

The announcement today that the Indy Airport Authority has voted in favor of a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Fishers is a big step toward doing something important with the currently unused land on the airport complex.  Once the Fishers City Council gives its expected stamp of approval, the next step is to develop a master plan for development.

This marks a major turning point in how local Fishers elected officials view Metropolitan Airport.  Fishers is a city as of 2015, but as a town, several past town council members, including Scott Faultless, Tim Lima and Mike Colby, had voiced a strong opinion that the airport should be moved to pave the way for other development on the land.  There were some efforts made to identify new locations in northern Hamilton and southern Madison counties, but nothing ever happened.  Once it became clear the airport was here to stay, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness began exploring new ways for the city to develop parts of the airport property.

Keep an eye on future announcements of economic development along the airport property in the near future.  There have been strong indications some manufacturing firms have expressed an interest in locating there.  Fishers has very little manufacturing now, so any movement in that direction would enhance the diversity of the jobs mix in the city.

Any development would enhance the 96th Steet corridor on the Fishers (north) side of that major thoroughfare.  And that’s a good thing for the city.

The memorandum of understanding would open up the areas

shaded in red (above) for economic development.