Columbus city leaders are preparing regulatory permits to develop the city’s riverfront. The more than $8 million project lies between the Second and Third Street bridges that cross the East Fork of the White River.
Mayor Jim Lienhoop says the city will have a formal submission ready by next month.
“There are few other communities in Indiana that have tried to embrace their waterway, but we’re a little bit further ahead," Lienhoop says. "I think it's been a bit of a challenge for the DNR to understand that people want to get in the water, they don’t just want to be on it.”
Officials are on their fourth redesign of the site plan, which includes recreation opportunities, safety improvements, and environmental upgrades.
The city is looking for public private partnerships to fund the project. But the majority of funding will come from the city’s TIF district, or tax increment financing funds.
Project leaders are hoping the new riverfront will increase other development and tourism generating more than $1.5 million annually in new local tax revenue.
Regulatory approvals and bidding could begin in spring of 2020 with construction to follow in fall.
