2023 has been a great year for our community. The pillars of the See You in Terre Haute Community Plan have never been stronger. Keeping that positive momentum going in 2024 will take a lot of hard work but if this past year was any indication, if we all work together we can achieve anything.
Here are a few highlights from the year:
- The Chamber of Commerce celebrated 35 new or expanding businesses and organizations with a ribbon cutting.
- The Vigo County Goodwill Excel Center was greenlit at the Statehouse.
- American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money was allocated to several community organizations that are already working to make an impact with that money.
- Several business and community entities (including The Station and the Chamber of Commerce) have taken up residence in the Hub at 900 Wabash Avenue, giving new life to the former Clabber Girl building.
- Entek broke ground on their billion-dollar battery plant in the Southside industrial park.
- THRIVE celebrated the completion of the first home built under the Homes for the Future initiative.
- The Capital Improvement Board unveiled a comprehensive plan for expanding Terre Haute’s sports tourism sector.
- Union Health announced a long-anticipated merger with Regional Hospital.
Keep reading below for some recent news from each pillar.
Josh Alsip
Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce
Director of Community Engagement
Tourism Pillar
With a donation from the Duke Energy Foundation, the Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department
will be extending the Wabashiki Wetlands Trail.
Duke Energy gifted $25,000 to the Vigo County Parks department in support of the project. The county plans to transform an abandoned rail line into walking and recreation trails. The trails loop around the West Terre Haute wetlands and the almost half-mile addition will lead toward Old Paris Road.
In the second phase of the project, the trail will connect to the West Terre Haute Little League fields. Following the opening of the wetlands, the trail opened in 2013.
Quality of Life Pillar
Vigo County, in partnership with the City of Terre Haute, received $1,946,901 from the Next Level Trails grant program to advance the Riley Trail project. Vigo County Commissioners Mike Morris and Chris Switzer; City of Terre Haute Engineer Marcus Mauer; and Vigo County Engineer Larry Robbins attended an event in LaCrosse, Indiana today, representing the community to accept the award presented by Governor Holcomb and leadership from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The state received 47 applications, funding only 14, including the Riley Trail Project.
The 7.9-mile asphalt trail will begin in the Town of Riley and ultimately end near Rea Park. It will be comprised of hot mix asphalt 10 ft. wide with 2 ft. of recovery on each side to comply with the Next Level Trails program’s standards and create an ADA-accessible trail. In addition to the trail surface, the Riley Trail will include pedestrian bridges and trail crossings. This will ensure that the trail is up to ADA standards and allows all individuals to access and use it safely.
Health and Wellness Pillar
A Mental Health Symposium hosted by Harsha Behavioral Center and Naveen was held this month at the Terre Haute Convention Center.
The purpose of the symposium was to discuss the challenges that we face and the work we have ahead of us as a community grappling with an evolving mental health landscape. Legislators attended the event; the hope was to convince them to approve more funding for mental health issues. There were panels featuring mental health leaders both local and from around the state and a discussion of mental health and schoolchildren.
Infrastructure Pillar
After a request for funding proposal process, chosen homebuilders/developers could receive up to $245,000 of the building cost to cover eligible infrastructure expenditures upon the completion of each home built. This program emphasizes a focus on developers and homebuilders creating homes at market rate to meet the needs of an ever-growing workforce and population in West Central Indiana.
This program is developing new energy around homebuilding in our region and will positively impact families throughout the community!
Talent Attraction and Retention Pillar
Schools across Vigo County received grant funding on Friday to support classroom enrichment opportunities.
The funding was presented during the Vigo County Education Foundation’s Business and Bagels event, which the VCEF holds every fall and spring. The foundation announced grants totaling over $35,000 to 19 schools.
The foundation also presented its Leadership Giving Award to Pat Minnis who is a former member of the foundation’s board of directors and established the Joe Minnis Memorial Fund through the foundation in honor of her late husband.
