French Lick Town Center Development Groundbreaking

French Lick, IN – A groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 13 to earmark the beginning of the French Lick Town Center development project. The project includes the construction of new buildings, a new town center/park, new streets, drainage improvements and associated infrastructure. Also included is the creation of architectural/streetscape standards for the redeveloped area, as well as standards for the redevelopment of the balance of the downtown.

The French Lick Town Center project, developed by the Indianapolis team of Hannum, Wagle & Cline Engineering and Storrow Kinsella Associates, includes the revitalization of over 14 acres of underutilized land immediately north of the historic French Lick downtown and directly across State Road 56 from the historic French Lick Springs Resort and its associated Casino. With the intent of making the Town Center project attractive to high quality developers and achieving sustained development, the Town of French Lick also retained a downtown development specialist, Urban Initiatives, to monitor the design team's planning and design options throughout the project.

Significant to the Town Center project is the creation of a visible landmark within a newly acquired 9-acre downtown area of property located directly across from the French Lick Springs Resort and Casino and just north of the historic downtown, which will give the French Lick Town Center a sense of place and make the downtown a destination. The French Lick Town Green will serve as a gathering place for residents and visitors and includes landscaped areas, seating, and a unique steel gazebo structure and spray fountain water feature that help to tie in the historic springs. Additionally, the Town Green enables the community to hold festivals and come together for celebrations embraced by the architecture and places that have contributed to its identity including the historic downtown, renovated historic hotel, new casino, and new mixed use development. The architecture of the buildings fronting the Town Green and Jack Carnes Way further contribute to the quality and historic character of the Town Center. Additionally, the strategic location and layout organizes proposed development capitalizing even more on the Town’s historic assets and new investment.

The success of the planning effort has largely depended on the success of an intensive and cooperative coordination effort between all those working in the community. Design of the Town Center not only needed to accommodate work at the Resort by Blue Sky, but also needed to address major flooding concerns, coordination of the land acquisition and the concurrent replacement of SR 56 adjacent to the site.

Phase 1 of the French Lick Town Center includes demolition and site preparation work and is scheduled to begin in November 2006. Full construction of the $5.5 million Town Center project will begin in the spring of 2007, and is anticipated to be complete by fall of 2007.

Artists Renderings
(Click photo for larger version)