I moved to Fishers in May, 1991, after marrying my wife Jane.  She had built a house in Sunblest.  The 1990 census counted just over 7,500 people living in the Town of Fishers.

I do not pretend to be an expert on “old Fishers,” but a lot of it was still in place in 1991.

After the economic meltdown of 2008-2009, the Town of Fishers began to move forward with development plans.  I retired from my civil service job in late 2011 and started writing this blog in January, 2012.  I could sense then that the town council, along with a young, aggressive Town Manager named Scott Fadness, would be working to develop the town, which was seeing major population growth at that time.

The growth spurred a lot of talk among those living in Fishers for many years, before the major increase in population.  They expressed their view Fishers had lost its small-town feel and it was their view this was a bad thing.

I asked Scott Fadness, once Fishers became a city and he was elected mayor, how he responded to the assertion that Fishers was losing the small-town atmosphere.  His response was clear…a city is either moving forward or backward.  He had, and today has, no intention of moving backward.

Scott Fadness has been aggressive in developing the City of Fishers in general, and in particular the downtown Nickel Plate District.  Fishers has a population estimated to be just under 105,000 at this time.  Those of us living in the 1991 version of Fishers could never have imagined that.

Nearly two years ago, the Fishers City Council approved incentives and a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan for land owner Mike Alboher and developer Tony Birkla.  They told the Council in August of 2022 the $35 million project would be constructed just south of the Fishers Municipal Complex, across 116th Street.  It would be mixed use, with commercial and residential space.

This development would feature a first for Fishers…..condominium units projected to sell for as much as $1 million.  It would face the new City Hall/Arts Center and have a prime location next to the Nickel Plate Trail.

However, at the July 31st meeting of the Fishers Redevelopment Commission , the city’s Economic Development Director Megan Baumgartner told commission members the project announced in August, 2022, will not be moving forward.  The city is working with land owner Mike Alboher to keep the city’s options open to develop that location.  It is clearly a valuable piece of land and ripe for development similar to the mixed-use structure announced in 2022.

The city wants everyone to know that there are still efforts to put together a “transformational” mixed-use development at that location, working with land owner Alboher.

Mayor Fadness has been aggressive in promoting developments such as the one proposed on 116th Street in August of 2022.  No doubt, another plan will surface in the future on the piece of land.  Not every plan comes to fruition as originally announced.

Fishers is moving forward, with residential, commercial and job creating development.  This is not the old Fishers.  Some of the long-time residents may see this as a bad thing.  However, people are voting with their actions….the population of Fishers continues to grow.