Demolition moves forward with due care
The fire-gutted Irwin Block Building on Fifth Street is going to be demolished, and the sooner the better. On that note, the building’s owners have hired Indianapolis-based Casey-Bertram to proceed with demolition.
Clearly, safely bringing down a building that is in danger of collapse is a precise business that must be carefully planned and controlled. At the same time, the condemned building poses a danger to nearby structures as well as to life and limb of anyone who happens to get too close.
The Columbus Board of Works has been expediting expectations that the building will come down sooner than later, and Casey-Bertram has pledged to provide the city weekly updates until the building is gone, likely a process that will take several weeks.
That’s reassuring, because until then, the city bears a responsibility to ensure that the building doesn’t become an attractive nuisance. That in itself comes at a cost at the city’s expense. From initial indications, this serious business is being tended to promptly and safely.
City slows its roll on paid parking
We have editorialized against the city’s plans to install downtown parking meters. Pardon our allusion to the old-timey coin-operated variety of meters, but those plans now appear to have expired.
That seems a welcome outcome, at least if you are a downtown merchant or someone who stops in to shop or do business with downtown merchants. Several merchants told the city that plans for paid parking downtown would be a business-killer. They had a point, and we’re pleased the city listened. And acted.
The city now has announced it will all but stop enforcing three-hour parking limits on downtown side streets, opting instead to limit enforcement to the busiest portions of the central core of Washington Street.
There was never much apparent need to control downtown parking with meters, and we commend the city for tapping the brakes and deciding to limit enforcement. This will be a good way to measure any current downtown parking issues.
Tell lawmakers what matters to you
It soon will be a new year, which means the Indiana General Assembly will be back in session. Lawmakers will be writing a two year budget in this so-called long session, and it’s vital to remember that these elected official represent us in Indianapolis.
One easy way to let lawmakers know what’s important to you is by completing a survey that House representatives from Bartholomew County have posted on their websites. You can do so through Sunday at any of the following lawmakers’ websites:
- State Rep. Ryan Lauer (R-Columbus) at in.gov/h59;
- State Rep. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) at in.gov/h69; or
- State Rep. Jennifer Meltzer (R-Shelbyville) at in.gov/h73.
To complete the online surveys, constituents must be a resident of the district a lawmaker represents. You can find out which House district you live in by visiting the Indiana General Assembly’s website at iga.in.gov, clicking on the “Find Your Legislator” tab, and entering a home address.
