Host Joe Hren sat down with Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett who shared his thoughts on the city graffiti ordinance, progress on the downtown cultural district and the extension of the walking trail along the Wabash River.
Listen to their full conversation above. Here are some highlights:
Hren: An ordinance that would have required property owners to clean up graffiti is off the table for now until council members can find a better way to enforce the ordinance, why is this important?
Bennett: It's really no different than people who own empty lots in town and there's illegal dumping that occurs, we still have to cite the person that owns the property, we don't know who dumped that stuff there and so the argument has been that it's not fair to penalize somebody who got vandalized, I get that... but all we're asking is to work with us to help get it cleaned up.
Hren: The Indiana Arts Commission recently awarded Terre Haute a grant to explore a 'Cultural Arts District' and a meeting is scheduled for the end of this month - what's next for this project?
Bennett: We want to get that designation to get us to the next level to get the publicity that comes with that. We would like to reward those that have done things whether it's the city that's been involved, a lot of private groups that have been involved, we would like to share that with the world.
Hren: Summer time in Terre Haute will bring residents out and about - any new city amenities that people should look for?
Bennett: The 1.7 mile trail from Fairbanks Park to I-70 is something we've been planning for a year and a half ran into a little bit of an obstacle with the EPA on a piece of property we acquired ... but we plan to build that trail. Our goal is to have the trail done by this fall.