HOPE — The five-year relationship between the town of Hope and the Indiana Main Street program will reach its culmination Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the $437,500 completion of the Hope Town Square renovation.
The public is invited to attend the 11:30 a.m. event on the west side of the park’s shelterhouse. Matt Crouch, Interim Executive Director of the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, will be among the speakers.
Improvements made since July include the replacement of 43 streetlights with black posts and globes that utilize LED lights. Concrete pathways have been installed, as well as specially-designed park benches and receptacles. In addition, new roofs have been placed on both the shelterhouse and bandstand.
While these upgrades have been in development for three years, Wednesday’s event may seem a bit anticlimactic. Immediately after the ceremony, the town square will be closed again to the public and remain off-limits for the rest of the year, town council vice-president Clyde Compton said.
The council voted to keep the park closed to give new grass seed an opportunity to grow and stabilize, Compton said. Both the fall season, as well as unusually dry conditions, have made new grass extremely delicate, he explained.
Originally, this year’s renovations were scheduled to be completed by the start of the Labor Day weekend, which would have given the northeast Bartholomew County town of 2,200-residents three weeks to prepare for their largest annual festival, Hope Heritage Days.
But in June, the COVID-19 pandemic forced festival organizers to cancel Heritage Days for the first time in its 53-year history. Later, the contractor told the town council the virus had affected his supply chain and hampered his company’s ability to meet deadlines. As a result, the council agreed to a new completion date of Oct. 9.
During a walk-through on Oct. 14, a few minor flaws were found that the contractor said will be quickly addressed, Compton said. But the council member, who requires a walker to get around on foot, described what he saw as “extremely good.”
“It’s very difficult for me to walk on uneven ground, but I was very impressed with the handicapped sidewalks and the ease of going uphill or downhill,” Compton said. “It will be a great benefit for elderly people, as well as for new parents pushing baby carriages.”
The entire investment into downtown Hope over the last five years, which includes building a new bandstand, installing a 19th Century-style clock, replacing water mains under Washington Street and exterior improvements to businesses, adds up to almost one million dollars, Compton said.
