Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse
Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse is your go-to podcast for staying connected with the heart of Richmond, Indiana. Dive into the latest community updates, local events, city initiatives, and stories that matter most to our vibrant community. Whether you're a lifelong resident or new to the area, this podcast keeps you in tune with the pulse of Richmond!
Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse
Episode 14 - Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse | Richmond’s Brand Identity and Gorge Activation Unpacked
Richmond is transforming before our eyes, and Mayor Ron Oler joined host Lindsay Darnell to give an exclusive look at the exciting changes reshaping our community’s future. The centerpiece of this transformation? A comprehensive new city brand that goes far beyond just a logo – it’s a strategic platform for decision-making and economic development that will position Richmond to compete for residents, businesses, and visitors for decades to come.
The brand, rooted in Richmond’s 2019 comprehensive plan, targets four key audiences: longtime residents who value strong services; emerging professionals from our five colleges seeking vibrant cultural scenes; small business owners looking for streamlined government processes; and creative individuals needing affordable spaces to showcase their talents. As Mayor Oler explains, “Richmond is a place where art meets industry” – a tagline that beautifully captures our unique identity.
Together, Lindsay and Mayor Oler dive deep into Richmond’s distinct advantages, from our strategic location at “the crossroads of connectivity and accessibility” to our growing downtown revival. The Six Main project has already broken ground, bringing 100 new apartments to the heart of our city, while the ambitious $35 million Gorge Activation project promises to transform the White River corridor with canoe launches, zip lines, and a new music amphitheater.
Perhaps most moving is Mayor Oler’s reflection on what truly defines Richmond: “Kindness and community spirit define our daily life. Giving back through volunteerism, generosity, and genuine support is woven into the fabric of the city.” This spirit will be essential as Richmond continues its journey of revitalization.
Ready to be part of Richmond’s transformation? Follow the city on social media, attend government meetings, and share your feedback about ongoing projects. This is your community – join us in making it even better!
Welcome back to another episode of Inside Richmond, the City's Pulse. I'm Lindsay Darnell, your host, and today I have Mayor Ron Oler joining me. Mayor, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Lindsay. Thanks for having me on again. Richmond's doing a lot of great things and momentum is definitely building if you drive downtown and see all the activities going on. Lot of great things and momentum is definitely building if you drive downtown and see all the activities going on, right?
Speaker 1:So actually I wanted to kind of just go over briefly. On our last episode we had Dakota Collins and Roxy Deer on here to talk about Revitalize Richmond. We are going to kind of keep continuing that theme. We are going to start off to talk about the branding. We have been talking about this in the past. We are getting ready to roll out next month. We're just finishing up some little small details and training, going over a brand style guide. So do you want to give us a little update on that, mayor?
Speaker 2:Sure update on that, mayor. Sure, and to kind of recap, the brand. The whole idea of branding came out of the 2019 comprehensive plan, richmond Rising. There were six goals in that plan and the third goal was community identity, process and procedures. And over the last five years, the process and procedures were rectified and improved. And now that we're finishing branding the comprehensive plan refresh is a has a new goal, a new empty spot to do something new.
Speaker 2:So I'm excited and all the all the goals that we had in the comprehensive plan. Everyone has been. We've been working toward it the entire city team and even before I was mayor and I was just on council. So we've always been working toward this comprehensive plan, fulfilling what we discovered. We can do better and a lot of cities get a comprehensive plan. They put it on the shelf, but Richmond did not do that and that just makes me so proud of our city, a city that really cares and wants to improve itself. And brand back to brand is more than just a logo. It's a whole symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to our place and it serves to create associations and expectations around those associations. This is a result of every interaction a user has with our place. So the whole brand is not just a logo. You're going to see the logo, but it's about economic development, it's about target audiences, it's about everything we aspire to become, everything we are and we aspire to become.
Speaker 1:So, talking about economic development, what is your perspective on how branding supports economic development and community pride?
Speaker 2:So it creates a platform that we've lacked for a long time. It'll help us make decisions, address challenges. So it gives us a consistent representation of our city. It supports economic development initiatives by positioning us to compete for residents, business and visitors. We have a growing sense of community pride that fosters collaboration with our people. We'll have success with reputation management by helping to shed some unfavorable perceptions. So the brand will. It's a process and a direction that we're heading to.
Speaker 2:You know, our goal was to have a brand, not just a logo, that people will love for the next 20 years. So it's unique and appeals to all ages. So there wasn't just one population. There were actually four different populations that we targeted through the whole process of meeting with stakeholders, businesses, surveys so much went into it. It's just.
Speaker 2:It's incredible that we were able to, early on, identify our target audience, and I would like to talk about that. So when you create a brand, you need to know what you're branding, why you're branding. We knew it was a goal, and it's been a goal for a long time, and we next step was to find out our target audience. So, of course, our first target audience was existing residents. You know people who have lived in Richmond for a long time possibly their entire lives and we know that they care about, or we learned that they care about, you know, a sage and dynamic community. They appreciate strong services and access to amenities and jobs. They care about good schools, they value great parks and prioritize access to health care. So knowing that what that target audience means kind of led us to the next target audience, which are the emerging professionals. You know we're a town, a city, with five colleges and universities, but I've said all along we really don't look like it, so we're trying to look like it. So emerging professionals used to call them young professionals, but the new term is emerging, because the individual is recently out of school, they're seeking employment opportunities, but they desire a city that offers both career prospects and a vibrant entertainment and cultural scene. They care about places to gather, such as coffee shops, restaurants, bars, music clubs. They have a preference for independent, locally owned businesses and that Revitalize Richmond just connects into that and getting small businesses back in the first floor of all these buildings downtown.
Speaker 2:They care about ability to get around without a car, more so than I do. They want to walk, they want to bicycle, they want to hike, they want to run jog. I'm at an age where my knees don't like to run anymore, but I appreciate the emergency professionals do, and there was a time when I was that and there was a time when I played all the sports and even industrial league softball, but now I don't do that so much anymore. But I appreciate the emergency professionals need that environment, so we're targeting them too. They need easy access to recreational amenities such as parks. And then, of course, small business owners ones that are here and ones who are interested in coming here. That's our third target audience. So these can be residents and non-residents looking to build or grow a small business. They typically have a background in business, they're entrepreneurs. What they care about and what they want is a city government that understands and addresses their needs, and that's one of the reasons back to that goal.
Speaker 2:Three from 2019, the process and procedures. We've streamlined so many of those. You can get your permit online. You don't have to come in and stand in line to get a permit for construction, for inspection. Do all that stuff online. Do it through technology. We're just trying to make everything easier and faster. They want proactive assistance in establishing and growing their business. So back to Revitalize Richmond. The small business development coordinator, who's just down the street in the Main Street Resource Center. Come and see John if you're interested in establishing a small business or if you have a small business and need a little bit of help, he can connect you to the resources. Of course, small business owners want access to a skilled workforce, so working with schools is hugely important. So the mayor's office not only have I worked with colleges, I'm working with Richmond on a lot of projects and a lot of initiatives, trying to keep the schools engaged and keep the schools understanding what our workforce needs are.
Speaker 2:And lastly, our target audience.
Speaker 2:Because we have such a rich history in the arts, we decided our fourth target audience are the creative types.
Speaker 2:These are individuals with an idea, a dream, a talent. They may be part of the creative class. They're skilled in their craft but may lack experience in owning and running a business or, back to the small business help. They care about a strong network of like-minded individuals navigating the business world. They need affordable, unique spaces to create and showcase their art. They need supportive and understanding local government and a community eager to buy their art, listen to their music, enjoy their food.
Speaker 2:So you know, as a birthplace of recorded jazz and all the other arts we have here. Getting back to that, I think, is hugely important. So one of the taglines we came up with in this whole brand is you know, richmond is a place where art meets industry. So we want to be very supportive of the arts. We have the second oldest continual professional orchestra in the state Just a lot of art history. We want to get back to an art future too, tied in with industry. So those are our target audiences where the existing residents, the emerging professionals, small business owners and the creatives, getting them back engaged in our community.
Speaker 1:And what's a good way for the businesses and the residents to get involved in promoting this brand.
Speaker 2:Of course, use it when it's finally released. We release pieces of it, but there's going to be a color palette. So if your business or your organization is thinking of changing its logo, if you match the city's color palette, this is a community brand, not just a city's brand. We want the community to adopt this. So I bring in an outside firm to look at the city with fresh eyes. They found all these color palettes that really tell the history of the city but also the future of the city. So even the logo itself is a bridge. It's a bridge from the history to the future and the color palette too.
Speaker 1:It's also seen a lot throughout the city. You can see it down in the depot district as some of the historic areas here in town. So that's really where they've got that color palette from is they were seeing so much as they were touring our city and just kind of getting out walking around and the color palette really does match. I like it a lot.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love where we're landing on a color palette and there's opportunities to work with that. So eventually that'll be released to the public and to anyone. If there's a business that wants to look at it now, just reach out to Lindsay. We have kind of we're starting to put together a guide of how we're going to use it, but those colors are in there too and that'll help.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that was fun working with an outside group like this who did not know Richmond, had to come in and discover Richmond. They work with similar sized cities around the country doing the same thing, but they came up with our distinct advantages and I want to read through some of these, because we're a city where opportunity knocks. That was an advantage that they came up with. Richmond is a city on the rise. We're offering expanding employment opportunities, diverse and appealing housing, from contemporary urban to single family homes. We're enhancing our transportation system, including bike-friendly paths, pedestrian trails.
Speaker 2:Downtown Richmond is experiencing a dynamic revival, so there's so much opportunity here for creatives, for entrepreneurs, for emerging professionals to come out and make their mark. Richmond has a long history. Since the late 1800s, early 1900s, lawnmower was invented here. So many things were invented here and we want the opportunity to get back to that and we get the emerging professionals living here, we create a quality, a place where they want to live, and the creatives and stuff will happen again. Stuff will be created here that we can't even imagine.
Speaker 1:You know, talking about that, there is a lot of things happening behind the scenes, not just that the city is doing, but the EDC, the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce. When you're talking about small business owners, they have a program, if you're a member with them, for interns to come in and help and this will also give the interns experience and kind of say do I want to go in this direction with this profession or do I want to go this way? But there is a lot of growth and this brand is going to be the road to growth within our city.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, and it helps that we have. One of the distinct advantages we have is our options. We're ideally positioned at kind of the crossroads of connectivity and accessibility, easy proximity to major urban centers Dayton, cincinnati, indianapolis so countless experiences. You can go to a baseball game, you can go to a football game, a basketball game. You know the most popular WNBA players in Indianapolis now. So a lot of things music, concerts, movies, venues, plays, all within. Just take off for the afternoon evening and come back again and live here.
Speaker 2:The interstate for a city our size. I've said this before we're unusual in Indiana to have four exits off the interstate, but just the way 70 wrapped around it and right now, with Revive I-70, getting six lanes and some other, making it even more accessible to traffic coming off the interstate. You know there's so much growth that you look at the east side of town you think there's a lot of hotels. No, there's one more coming, so I guess there's a demand for even yet another hotel. So all that connectivity really, really helps us to be a place to locate your business, to locate your family. With the schools we have, all the different subdivisions we have in the city and in the county. There's a place to live and raise a family and go to a good quality school. That's hugely important too.
Speaker 1:And another thing that's important is, as we're going and moving forward with the brand and growth within the city, is that when there is people stopping off of the exit to stay in a hotel, we don't want them just to stay at the hotel, we want to get them pulled into our downtown.
Speaker 2:Pull them into the community.
Speaker 1:Into our depot district and see all of the local owned businesses that we do have.
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely. So we know they're using Google Maps or one of those apps, one of those maps, so getting them in a different parts of the community. So you'll eventually see banners and stuff that tile this stuff together, that hopefully get people to come on down to the city, depot district, the downtown, the west side, east side and outside, just everywhere there might be some place they're interested in seeing if it's a park, if it's a museum. I mean, if you're a study of egyptian culture and you come to indiana, there's only three mummies in indiana, egyptian mummies you can see, and two of them are right here in richmond. So a lot of, a lot of opportunity here right, um.
Speaker 1:So, and that's why we really want to stress that the brand is not just a logo. It is a logo, it is a statement. It's not just for the city, it's for the whole community to embrace. It's to get catch people's attention when they drive by and they see it, or if they're, I don't know if they're searching somewhere where they can go to see a waterfall. We have a waterfall here.
Speaker 2:The Saweet Waterfalls. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1:And that logo will just kind of draw them in and attract them and so revamping a lot of this with the brand. Pretty soon we'll revamp the website to match the brand and we're really hoping that a lot of our community members will embrace that and either use the color palette or even put the logo on their building, on their glass windows.
Speaker 2:Sure, we'll make that available. You know, one of the things that this group found and we've known this as lifelong residents, but I think we've forgotten about it is how much Richmond is a community that cares In Richmond. They wrote that in Richmond, kindness and community spirit define our daily life. Giving back through volunteerism, generosity and genuine support is woven into the fabric of the city. And I'm not saying this boast, but even last night a group of guys and I got together and we picked up a bunch of food from a grocery store and took it to a food pantry so this weekend it can be given out to people in need of free food. And we just did that on our own because we don't know not to do that. So it's kind of woven into our spirit, but we need to think about that and think about how are you volunteering in the community? How are you being generous, how are you giving support? That's kind of woven into the fabric of the city and it always has been and this extends across generations inspiring everyone. So this group of guys I was with last night I think the oldest was probably 70 and the youngest was probably 30 and we just said we're going to do this thing. We're going to load up four truckloads of food and take them to a pantry so it can be given away. We're going to help out so long-time residents, local students everyone has an opportunity to actively contribute and make a difference. And if you don't know where to start, just reach out to Lindsay. But really you can just look online at YMCA Takes Volunteers. Just every group we call them NGOs, non-government organizations. A lot of them are looking for volunteers and they'll accept your help and you can get emotionally connected to the community, not just physically living here, but emotionally supporting your community. And some people may not be able to do it physically, so they can do it with their checkbook and that's certainly welcome that. All the different non-for-profits that are out there trying to make a difference in our community and help people who need help or just provide for events there.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of events that happen in the city that you know. The city doesn't run any events like the Meltdown Ice Festival that comes. It's so popular. That's not a city event but we just provide the park and the staff. The fireworks we had last month, that's all ran through donations, through the American Legion. The city provides the space and provides some staffing and pays a lot of overtime to see that it's a safe event and it's a clean event and cleaned up afterwards. But it's not the city's event. We just we're the place to facilitate it and that's what the city should do. The city should not get in the way, but it should be able to help facilitate things that are important to the community.
Speaker 1:Right, and actually last Friday you and I attended the Shores Homelessness Outreach Event that they had at Central United Methodist Church. We were volunteers. That is just something that we wanted to, you know, donate a little bit of our time to help out with. But you could always contact Centerstone Bridges for Life Neighborhood Health.
Speaker 2:And it was interesting because you and I were navigators and of all the groups we walked through there, all of them had a place to live, except for one and all the groups that we helped that day and we were there for I don't know five, six hours. It was a long time, but it was good work. So we only had one true homeless person and we were able to connect them with some resources to get them some transitional housing until things changed in their life. But all of them were just. They were coming because we had an opportunity to connect with services needed connection to dental work, medical work. Some needed just some food. You know everybody was there handing out stuff. Reed was there, was a great support, you had personal care items, shampoo and other things available and a lot of people everyone we saw, except for one just really needed that hand up. So that's important. That's ingrained in our community that everybody there who was helping navigate was just taking time from their life just to just to help people who need help, and that's a pretty cool thing.
Speaker 1:It really was. You know our community really did come together to see everything that they had available to give out for free for these people who just needed a little bit of a leg up or a little bit of help with some things. For these people who just needed a little bit of a leg up or a little bit of help with some things. You know, reed had these bags that had shampoo, conditioner, body wash, baby wipes I mean hygiene stuff, cooling towels, little bucket hats, and then you could go and get feminine products or you could go and get first aid kits. I mean it was really great to see all of these people come together and support our community in a way that you know a lot of people can't support.
Speaker 2:One of the things that this, this going through this branding process, revealed on these surveys and I'm bringing this up because I want to survey again in two years so our one of the questions in a survey or list the top five assets and attributes that you're most proud of. So if you're, for, one of the questions in a survey lists the top five assets and attributes that you're most proud of, so for residents of the city, what attributes, what things about the city are you most proud of? And the number one was city parks and natural spaces, which is great and going forward. We're going to have to find some way to fund some improvements there. The second was the depot district. Third was higher education presence, Fourth was arts and culture and fifth was a rich history.
Speaker 2:And the reason I want to say survey again because downtown did not make the top five lists but with revitalize Richmond, when this is done in the next two years, I want to survey again and see that move up in the top five list that they're proud of, not just the dep depot. The depots had a good history and a good head start in all this, and now the downtown. It's their time. So we do this survey again. I want to know in a couple years how proud people are of their downtown again and I believe they're currently revitalized.
Speaker 1:Richmond are doing studies right now for the downtown of what retail stores need to be brought in. It's not just going to be okay, I'm going to open up I don't know this type of store a clothing store, but that might not be what's kind of wanted or desired.
Speaker 2:There's a strategy to the retail that's coming downtown and they're going to try really hard to work with franchises and other entrepreneurs and businesses to not compete with existing businesses but complement. So what are we missing? And and if I was a betty man, if some of you talked to me off camera and we'll put this on the recording the one thing that richmond doesn't have is an irish pub. So an irish slash english pub I think is in our future and I'm looking forward to that, because irish and english food is really good, but you can't get it in Richmond. You can get just about everything else. So if you're a betting person, you might bet that's going to be one of the things they come up with, so that'll be fun to see.
Speaker 1:So funny story. When I was in high school, my grandparents moved to Venice, florida, for about a year before they decided it was too hot down there for them and I was a hostess at an Irish pub, and they do have great food yeah, that's.
Speaker 2:I know people used to go to Liberty, to that English pub, and it closed a few years ago, so I think there's there's a gap there. So that's, that's kind of fun, yeah, um so, and then also with the comprehensive plan.
Speaker 1:This was in the previous comprehensive plan. Now we're doing number three. We're doing a refresh now, so, since this is checked off of the last comprehensive plan, which I believe was in 2019.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:We are going to be replacing the community identity with quality of place. Yes, so that is. The next important thing that we need to start working on is quality of place within the city of Richmond, and not even just Richmond, but Wayne County, because we are the resource hub for a lot of these towns in Wayne County.
Speaker 2:Right and even out in the county. A new park was dedicated in a small town recently, so they're seeing the value of quality of place. We need parks, better parks for children and young families and even older adults, a place to get out and get fresh air. So parks are hugely important. But there's other things, you know venues. Do we have the right mix of venues? Do we have a good place for the music, the arts? Do we have a good place of gathering? Do we have the right mix of? You know, just anything Planting some small trees along main street instead of big trees so they don't bump into buildings. Just also being smarter about what we're doing. If you've driven around city hall lately, you'll see there's some small trees planted there. That's going to help eventually shade it. That building sits in the sun and it's difficult to cool. It gets expensive to cool it in the summertime, so trying to add some shade along the side.
Speaker 1:And that'll keep your buildings more efficient too. You're not pushing harder for AC. We really needed that shade canopy here in the city, so they also did some down on the south side. Yes.
Speaker 2:Down around Hibberd. They planned a bunch of that cuff grant and that was a pretty good grant.
Speaker 1:It was. So I kind of want to start talking about the comprehensive plan now, if that's okay. Sure, so on Thursday July 31st, we did have our public workshop. We did have quite a few people come out and give us their input. So about some of the projects or the previous comprehensive plan, you know what needed to be changed, what was more important now, so we got really like a lot of good feedback from that. One thing I do want to note is transportation was one of the major, you know, things that they wanted to see us kind of push to impress, which we are. We've had some meetings. We're going to be coming up with a transportation master plan. We had Matt Keller on here a couple months ago that was talking about that. Also, let's talk about the airport they received a grant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot of people forget about the Richmond Municipal Airport, but a lot of businesses use it. Individuals use it for general aviation, but a lot of business jets flying out of there for businesses in the city or just as a stopover. So that airport was built in 1945 as part of a relief for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for training fighter pilots, and then the war ended fairly quickly. So that terminal building is a block building and it's not ADA compliant. For the last 60 years we poured a lot of money into it, trying to stabilize it, but it's time for a new terminal. So our US representative, jefferson Shreve, was proud to serve on the Transportation Committee. He was able to help us secure a grant from the FAA for design and engineering, so that was awarded. So now they're going through the design and engineering process for a new terminal building, a terminal building that may be more welcoming.
Speaker 2:We've heard from some of the businesses that come into town and they want to meet with people that they'll land their plane there, which is great we have good fuel prices but then they have to, of course, commute into another office space or a building space because they can't really meet there. So having the ability to have some meetings right there at the terminal is usually important to them and usually important for the growth of the city and to have the restrooms on the same floor Right now one's on the second floor and there's no elevator it steps, it's just. Anyways, the plan is to build it near the existing terminal so we won't have an outage. So have a new terminal building. So our next phase, once the engineering and design work is done, we're going to use that to submit an actual building grant to the FAA.
Speaker 2:The airport has been very frugal over the years and has a good pot of money saved up for this. So those shouldn't be hard to match. That and some donations. So some people reached out they're innocent of donating to who would use that space for meetings and stuff. So hopefully we'll be able to next year secure the actual building grant. So our representative Shreve will help us with that again too. And last year only one airport. There's a whole new. The FAA recognized that a lot of terminals were built during World War II and these airports were built in World War II. So nationwide they set up this grant program to replace some of these aging terminals. And last year only one terminal building was replaced in Indiana through the grant and that's over there in Lafayette. So our US representative and people in Washington kind of agreed it's time for this side of the state to get a terminal building. So we're very hopeful we'll get that next year and that'll make some great improvements.
Speaker 1:So while we were there I was kind of just looking on the wall great improvements. So while we were there I was kind of just looking on the wall and you would be surprised at how many people and famous people that has actually flown into our airport.
Speaker 2:Flew in there, gave speeches, frank Sinatra, just everybody. It's just incredible. Alabama just there's a whole wall of photographs. So if you ever want to see a little piece of history that wall in the hallway coming in and the terminal's open Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, I'm guessing, or something like that we have a small staff and it's a general aviation airport, so the terminal's not open year-round and 24 hours. It's open during the day, but it is kind of fun to just drive down there and see some of those pictures and see, wow, these people stopped at Richmond. I mean, you go to the depot and you can learn about some of the presidents and other people who stopped on the trains and came to Richmond and gave a speech or presentation. But there's a lot of celebrities and other people who actually stay, you know, flew through the Richmond airport, either to refuel as a stop, cross country, or they actually stopped and gave a speech there.
Speaker 1:It's kind of fun. Yeah, there was one picture I was looking at and said dave thomas, and I was like is that the windies guy? Beth was like yeah, and I was like I thought so, but I haven't seen him and well you know he's passed away now but he used to be on the windies commercials all the time when we were, when I was a kid, but that was kind of interesting and papa john's he was there just a bunch of people.
Speaker 1:I can't remember all of them, so yeah, I can't either, but there is a wall full of pictures.
Speaker 2:We have an opportunity so, as richmond's growing and we have all this industrial park activity going on. And you know, even blue buffalo is owned by general mills now, so their corporate jet will fly in I don't know how often but and then they'll go to the plant. But every now and then there's a time when they just want to stay there and have a meeting there and we should offer that opportunity for them to do that yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1:Um so major priorities that are being addressed in the refresh is definitely quality of place. We have the parks, we have economic development, land, land use, transportation housing and neighborhoods housing and neighborhoods.
Speaker 1:Yes, so those are the ones that we're focusing on. We'll have another meeting soon. We did have a stakeholder meeting, for it was for quality of place and then for land use, and so we made sure that we invited a lot of key players within the community that either deal with quality of place or deal with land use. So we had some realtors there, we had someone from the EDC and it really we had a great turnout.
Speaker 2:We're partnering with the county on this too. This isn't just Richmond. Richmond is the seat of Wayne County and where Richmond goes, the county goes. So we're closely. We have meetings, it seems like every week, with county officials just to keep on the same page and keep working together as much as possible and collaborate as much as possible and be efficient together as much as possible. Right Like the land use and development.
Speaker 1:So we're all agreement what? Where we should have housing and where we should have industrial parks and that kind of stuff. Um, so, moving forward with six main. I wanted to give a quick update on that they are I know if you guys have drove past you're seeing them working away they're doing the foundation work, starting it.
Speaker 2:Um, they were just there yesterday and they started pouring the foundation. That's pretty cool yeah you've seen the pipes coming out of the ground for the water and sewer and storm water drains, but and the gravel, but now the actual, you can start to see a perimeter of the building and how it's going to shape up and it's kind of exciting. I drive by it. You know there's at the end of the day. There are several ways to leave City Hall, but every day I purposely drive by that site.
Speaker 1:I've been doing that for a year and a half now just to see the progress Right, and I think it's an 18-month project.
Speaker 2:Yes, so it should be 17 months left, right.
Speaker 1:Right about 17 months. So I mean it's moving along. You know, with construction Sometimes you have rainy days. I know I had gone over there to the trailer to talk to some of the project managers and got stuck there. It started pouring down rain so they kind of had to stop, but as soon as the rain lifted they got right back out there and continued work. I really believe this is going to be a major impact on our downtown with the revitalized Richmond. Once we get people moved into these apartments, you know we'll hopefully have these businesses starting up A lot of the renovations throughout the five other buildings. There's going to be a hundred more apartments Gorge activation. That's starting. I believe they're starting on Test Road right now.
Speaker 2:Right, that canoe landing launching side is going in down at test road and then there'll be another one up on the north end. So the white rotter river, through the heart of the city is, runs three and a half miles through the city and two and a half of that's trails already. So opening those trails up from this, the way it falls all the way down to test road, is it's hugely important to have people have outdoor space to, to just come out and get some fresh air and experience nature. It's, it's, it's an asset. You know, for a long time, cities in throughout the midwest like richmond thought they're, they're, they're they're. The river running through their city was a problem. But most cities like richmond were founded around a river because that was a trading access route. And now we're kind of getting back to that and appreciating the value of that natural waterway that we don't have to build but we can build around it and it's a $35 million investment and I think between the DNR and other and Lily I think we're about $17 million. So there's a lot more to go.
Speaker 2:So you may know, and you may most people know, that the state legislators passed a law that enables us to add a food and beverage tax to add 1% tax on prepared food and beverages, not groceries, and a lot of that's paid by people coming off the interstate. But that can only be used for gorge activation, parks and trails. Quality of place is that important but there's not enough property tax revenue to do everything we need to do to make that more vibrant. So that's one method of funding that gap. So over the next, hopefully council will take it up soon and consider the food and beverage tax because it's a choice tax, it's a use tax, it's a fair tax.
Speaker 2:We're not going to add debt to property taxes. This is a way to fund it without making it a tax you have to pay. There's no tax on groceries, so and it's kind of a choice tax that you choose to eat out instead of groceries. This summer I was down in another Southern state and it's interesting that they tax groceries at 4% and their food and beverage tax basically they don't call it that in most cities is two and three quarter percent. So this, this state has a 7% sales tax, like Indiana, but cities add 2.75% on top of that kind of like a food and beverage, but they also have 4% on groceries. So I think Again, as track structure is much more fair, and asking people to pay another penny on the dollar to help fund this quality of place that everyone's going to use and benefit from is, I think that's a pretty good bargain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was kind of going through the Gorge Activation Master Plan and you know they're wanting to do zip lining canoeing and we don't have anything like that. And we don't have anything like that.
Speaker 2:Bouldering rock walls. There's a boardwalk, so there's even accessibility. There's a boardwalk planned along the river, so someone in a scooter or a wheelchair will be able to access the side of the river, which you really can't do now.
Speaker 1:And I think there were some tree houses too, like little tree house shelters that you could probably rent out for a birthday party or whatnot.
Speaker 2:And a new music amphitheater. We have a lot of events in historic Star Jeanette building, which is hugely important to our city, but it's not a great venue for music. If you've been there, it's echoey, it's rough. So there is a plan on that grass to the south way down there to have a grassy outdoor performance area and have a little amphitheater where the weather's nice. So we have Elstro Plazaaza downtown and it's a small music venue and we have glenmiller park, the band shell, roosevelt hill and that's a huge music venue.
Speaker 2:So this will be kind of a medium size and I think it'll work out well especially parking down there and there's accessibility and it's on the cardinal greenway, so it's at the end of 67 miles of rails to trail, so it's a good place to do something like that.
Speaker 1:Right, especially with the events that are held down there. There's a few events that get held down there and you know they use, they utilize the outside plus the Star Jeanette building. But once this gorge activation is done, it's going to be gorgeous. It's going to really attract more people to come down there and and actually have fun doing something. You're not going to have to travel. I think a lot of people go to Brookville to do the canoeing or rafting. I do know that there is canoeing, I believe, at Middle Fork Reservoir.
Speaker 2:Yes, you can canoe and kayak there now. Bring your own for no cost, or rent the ones that the parks has out there.
Speaker 1:I think it's only about eight dollars.
Speaker 2:It's not expensive and it's good exercise.
Speaker 1:Kayaking is good exercise. So, mayor, is there anything else that you want to?
Speaker 2:talk about or give an update on. Just ask the people to stay engaged. I mean, everybody says I can't find about events happening. But if you follow the city's Facebook page, the city's social media, and if you follow other avenues, yes, we have some. You know, western way news does a really good job. It comes out once a week, so that's a good way to follow what's happening. But it's not, you know, it's once a week. And the other paper that is printed muncie and comes here has some local stuff but very little. So it's kind of hard to get information unless you're connected. So just stay connected to everything the city has.
Speaker 2:Watch this podcast, share this podcast. I think we're doing really good things here and if you haven't noticed, you can do this on other formats. You don't have to watch us on YouTube, your Amazon Echo devices, you can just listen to it. You can listen to it when you're driving in your car, your Apple podcast, all these places you can listen to this podcast. You don't have to sit and watch a video. So I know I'm working in the office sometimes. And the last podcast I wanted to hear what Dakota and Roxy had to say, so it was just playing in the background while I was doing a bunch of paperwork. It's, you know, half of my day is paperwork and you can listen to it without watching and keep up with what's going on.
Speaker 1:Multitask. You can also check out Wayne County Tourism Bureau. They post a lot of events on their social media, on their website Also. I wanted to kind of give you guys kind of a call to action. So we have been posting our government meetings. You can either watch them online or you can come to the council chamber and provide feedback when it's time for open discussion and so really get engaged with the community. I know I've seen a lot of your guys' comments on things that you have concerns about. So we really want to invite you to come down. Come to if it's planning or zoning appeals or the historic preservation commission, common council board of works, if there's anything that you guys might have a concern about. I mean, just come down and show up, listen to the meeting, express your concerns, or you can contact me. I can get you in contact with whoever might be over that project that you kind of want more information about. So just get involved with the community and stay involved.
Speaker 2:Very good. Yes, this is your community, not ours. We're just here to facilitate improvements.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's our goal. Mayor, I want to thank you for joining me today.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm glad to be here. So it's good to come, good to be back.
Speaker 1:Yep, we'll have you back on in a few more episodes. Okay, that's it for Inside Richmond, the City's Pulse. Make sure to join us next time.