HOPE — While many of Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s restrictions on COVID-19 expire by Independence Day, Hope town council members are still facing difficulties in their efforts to bring back public events.
But it’s not just the virus that is recreating obstacles for the town of 2,200 residents in northeast Bartholomew County.
Earlier this year, the Poole Group of Dillsboro gave an oral assurance they would start extensive renovations of the Hope Town Square beginning the week of June 14, council member Clyde Compton said. The Dearborn County construction firm received a $437,500 contract to perform extensive downtown renovations.
Improvements to the town square will include replacing 43 existing streetlights with black posts and globes that utilize LED lights. Within the town square, concrete pathways that conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act will be installed.
But a snag popped up after project consultant Steve Robertson of Strand Associates said the contractor’s insurance didn’t cover accidents creating pollution, which Robertson said makes his consulting firm uncomfortable about moving forward.
Council members received an email from Robertson Wednesday that the insurance issue has been resolved, but the project consultant still had no idea when work would begin, Compton said.
“That means we can’t utilize the shelter house because we don’t know when the work is going to start,” Compton said. “We’re at their mercy.”
“How long are we going to give (the contractor)?” council President Jerry Bragg asked at Tuesday’s Hope Town Council meeting. “Are we going to just sit and wait?”
Whenever the work gets underway, almost all of the town square will be closed to the public from 6 a.m. Monday until crews leave for the weekend late Friday afternoon, Robertson said. While the park will be open on weekends, construction areas will be roped off, he said.
The only park attraction that will remain open weekdays will be the playground, which will be fenced on three sides to prevent children from wandering into construction areas, Robertson said.
While Robertson says he shares the council’s frustrations, both he and town attorney Scott Andrews emphasized the town’s contract with the Poole Group doesn’t designated a start date — only a completion deadline. Unless the contractor doesn’t finish their work by the completion date, there’s nothing the council can do.
Hope has already canceled its “Old Fashioned Independence Day,” as well as June and July Cruise-Ins — -a mix of a car show and live concert. But there are still a number of late summer and fall events remaining on the schedule in or around the Hope Town Square.
The first will be a Cruise-In on Aug. 7, Main Street of Hope executive director Susan Thayer Fye said. There will also be an Arts and Antiques event at the end of August, and at least three additional Cruise-Ins around the Hope Town Square into the fall.
Another event in limbo is an effort by Hope’s business owners to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, Thayer Fye said.
“If you have a problem with this, we need to know now,” Thayer Fye told the council. “We already have a band scheduled.”
But Compton said event preparations can’t proceed until there’s certainty the renovations will be completed.
In addition, council member Nellie Meek repeatedly warned it’s impossible to predict what type of health risk will be present in the months ahead.
While the town’s biggest annual celebration won’t arrive for another three months, the seven-member Heritage of Hope Inc. Board of Directors will meet Tuesday to discuss the Sept. 25-27 Hope Heritage Days, executive board member Randy Sims said.
Sims was asked whether the executive board is leaning towards recommending canceling Heritage Days. Sims said he cannot comment on that matter.
At least two other regional fall festivals — the Oct. 2 through 5 Seymour Oktoberfest and the Oct. 9 through 10 Columbus Ethnic Expo — have already been canceled.
