by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Big things are about to be announced that could transform downtown Noblesville into a more attractive and accessible city center with long-awaited parking, housing and other amenities. Results of various studies and proposals will be revealed in coming days which, if implemented, would place the downtown area on equal footing with various other communities that ring Indianapolis.

City community relations director Robert Herrington said that on April 10 a plan devised by consultants to change the appearance of streets around the Courthouse Square will be presented in a 5 p.m. public meeting at City Hall.

Context, Inc. has drawn up a proposal that would change angle parking to parallel parking, create bike lanes and wider sidewalks. This plan by Context consultants also recognizes the need for additional parking before their streetscape plans can be implemented. Comments at the meeting from the public will be sought.

The Downtown Planning Committee, on which merchants and city officials are represented, has reviewed the plan. The committee has access to $500,000 which comes from trash pick-up fees now charged to city property owners.

Proposing to meet the parking need, several private real estate developers have shown interest in building one or more multi-use complexes that would include commercial space, apartments and public parking in a multi-level structure. Such development would be located either south of the Square between 8th and 9th streets, west of the Square on the so-called Armory lot, or at a site near 6th and Conner streets.

City officials have not identified these developers. But, it is known that some of their plans are similar to the type of mixed use developments built in downtown Carmel and other cities around the country.

In the meantime, the Noblesville Parking Task Force is proposing improvements to existing municipal parking lots where aging meters, landscaping and pavement are said to need updating. For this improvement, some of the $500,000 may be available.

At nearly the same time as all this, there are plans to reveal the use of the former Nickel Plate railroad right-of-way between Pleasant Street and the downtown area for a walking and bike trail that will eventually link the city center with the Midland Trail, an east-west pedestrian and bike greenway now under construction.

The Nickel Plate will continue to be an active rail line north of downtown where an excursion train is expected to be running by this summer, according to County Tourism Director Brenda Myers. The train will take passengers to Atlanta and back which officials hope will add to the popularity of Noblesville’s downtown as a tourist destination. Add to this a soon to be announced a “marketing plan” for downtown, and the public can expect a much different downtown assuming the Noblesville city administration approves and can coordinate the various proposals.