Page 68 - MACC Guide 2019/2020

Armor Plastics building prior to renovations. Armor Plastics building post renovations.
Photo by Bill Jones (Wonderland Studios) Photo by Bill Jones (Wonderland Studios)

Apartments are scheduled for completion by the end of Street/U.S. 421 to the hilltop circumventing downtown,
2020. unless making deliveries there. As part of the overall
bridge project, the City of Madison took ownership
Located in the heart of downtown is the former
of Main Street (previously owned and maintained by
Elks Lodge building on West Street. In 2006, arson
Indiana Department of Transportation) for a several
destroyed the 1904 building, but over the last few years,
mile stretch through the heart of downtown. This
Placeworks, LLC, took on the challenge of restoring the
burned-out structure into seven high-end apartments. allows a tremendous opportunity for the City to create
The interior of the renovated apartment building is a safe transportation corridor that can utilize not only
sleek and modern with open floor plans and dramatic vehicular traffic but enhance pedestrian and bicycle
windows. The owners have re-purposed as much traffic as well. A steering committee has been formed
reclaimed wood as possible on the interior. Meanwhile, and a consultant hired to help guide this important and
the building’s exterior has retained it’s historic integrity.
transformative process that will positively impact our
Main Street for many years to come.

Another “gateway into the city” project, located on
Madison’s hilltop, has undergone a major renovation
from a former abandoned manufacturing facility into
a state of the art plastic molding facility (pictured
above). The property was previously considered a
“Brownfield” - land used in the past for industrial or
commercial purposes with known or suspected pollution
including soil contamination due to hazardous waste.
Now, the project has had a significant impact on the
area surrounding it, not only visually enhancing the
landscape but also creating new jobs and significant
capital investment for the city.

Much of the transformation of the city of Madison can
be attributed to our Stellar Communities designation in
Opened in mid 2020, was the bridge approach 2017, which provided $6 million in grants and tax credits
project, Madison’s downtown “gateway into the city.” for these and other projects, including renovation and
This project was meant to beautify and enhance the reopening of the Ohio Theatre and a new and beautiful
Madison-Milton Bridge approach from Kentucky to
pocket park on Walnut Street to commemorate the
Indiana and improve the flow of traffic onto State
Georgetown neighborhood’s role in the Underground
Highway 56. This is especially true for tractor-trailers
Railroad. Additionally, the City of Madison will be
and other large commercial vehicles who can now
easily access Main Street without having to thread adding sidewalks along Clifty Drive to improve
their way through residential side streets. Semis and pedestrian connectivity and make that main artery of the
tractor-trailers will now be redirected up Jefferson city more attractive.

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