Speedway launches $500 Mil improvements
"Although the skies are cloudy, this is a bright, sunny day for the town of Speedway," said Scott Harris, executive director of the redevelopment effort. Indianapolis Star
Nearly 100 people attended today's groundbreaking despite chilly, rainy conditions. Many of those in attendance, who have been part of the effort in some way during the four years of planning, wouldn't have missed it.
"What a hallelujah day," said Elizabeth Glover, owner of Charlie Brown's restaurant, one of the businesses along Main Street. "I can just picture this as a destination point, and I can't help but be excited."
The $6.7 million Main Street road construction project, which began Wednesday, should be completed by May 2011, in time for the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500. It is intended to fire up a redevelopment effort that civic leaders say will attract $263 million in private investment.
Planners say the redevelopment, which encompasses more than 400 acres directly south of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will attract new commercial and industry that could create more than 2,000 jobs and foster a 10-year economic boost up to $5.2 billion, according to financial consultants Crowe Horwath.
Other infrastructure improvements also will follow, including the realignment of 16th Street, now set to begin next summer and finish by November 2011, a Holt Road extension, 10th Street realignment and a Georgetown Road closure between 16th and 25th streets to add a linear park to serve as a buffer from the track.