The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 17

PAGE 18- THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR- CKAt.MKB.1MStSmWAIlSOF work, soiporrmmvouw 5AVANfTHIN6 AT FIRST. JUST GO i two sTucwwscom we 1 It 1 Speedway starts work on larger 'Gasoline Alley' 27, 1985 A A ITOLDW wo NOTTOSAY TUESDAY, AUGUST Hi 1 rruitwAV9 V. 11 in. umi 7 Versailles gains sign of the times 'Fastest growing9 claim just a joke Emie Purvis, Versailles water Bishop also is assistant water commissioner. In fact Bishop's predecessor, Floyd Eads, now deceased, posted the signs, which were ordered by John Hill.

Maybe Dottie Adams didn't know, but her husband, Kenneth did. The sign saga went like this: In 1970 the census showed Versailles with; 1,080 people. The town thought it was a Versailles is bigger, some citizens swore. They-ordered a special census, possible if a town is! willing to pay for it. The new census in 1973 showed Versailles-with 1,419, an increase of nearly 40 perce'ntj Another special census in 1978 showed a popula-; tion of 1,480.

"I laughed," recalls Hill. "I said, 'I'm gonna-get some "I was the one who told Floyd to get them-made; there's no problem because we can back it up, right? It was a joke." g. The 1980 national census showed a popula-' tion of 1,560. Nothing close, of course, to the 260 percent increase in population in Schererville between 1970 and 1980, or the 178 percent increase Carmel's population for the same period. In Versailles was 23rd in the state between 1970 and 1980 in population increase.

"I think we're about 2,000 now," says Never mind the official 1980 population fig-' ure. "We've put up 54 apartment units since, then," he points out. And they've left up the signs. of the Versailles Town Board about eight years before resigning in 1983. And he is the fellow responsible for dubbing Versailles Indiana's big-.

gest burgeoning, but bucolic, borough. He is a reluctant hero and a humorist, perhaps in the mold of the droll Herb Shriner. Sort of the unknown comic of Versailles, because few remember the sign Hill ordered to put the place on the map. "We've had the signs ever since I can remember," says Ginger Bradford, now president of the Town Board. But records are another matter.

"I can tell you right now we don't have a list of all the signs they buy," she declares. And her memory fails her as to the signs' origin. The Chamber of Commerce of Versailles, which disbanded for a while and was ed about three years ago, would be expected to consider such signs a mark of progress and a guarantee to bragging rights. But Ken McNear, president of the chamber, was in the dark about where the signs came from. "I'm not even sure how long the signs have been there," said McNear.

Dottie Adams, who doubles as secretary in an insurance office and answerer of the Chamber of Commerce telephone, was in the dark. "When I saw the sign myself, I about cracked up," she recalled. Among others who might know is Tom Day, a member of the Town Board until he resigned April 1. But he didn't know. Neither did Gene Bishop, the street commissioner.

"They were here before Gene started," said which will be the undersides of the concrete roofs, will be 11 feet, 4 inches high at the front and 10 foot, 8 inches high at the back. Each of the three clusters of 32 garages will be arranged back-to-back to create a trough in the middle. Drainage will flow to the middle of each row and be piped into the storm sewer system. There will be an overhead door and service door for each garage. There will be a men's and a women's restroom in the center of each group of garages.

Each garage will contain a water spigot. The three garage clusters will be separated by driveways 50 feet wide. All of the concrete components of the building will be precast at the site, except for the roofs, which will be precast elsewhere and transported to the track, according to Lamson. Summit Construction Co. of Indianapolis is in charge of the project.

The northern end of the garages will be located parallel to the south extremity of the Gasoline Alley entrance onto the track, usually known as the garage-area gate. Arrayed along the north, west and east sides of the area will be 35 rooms for participating accessory companies. The Press Buildingprobably will be enlarged with the space formerly used by two hospitality suites to the south of that building. A welding shop will be located at the northeast corner of the garage area. Thompson, said that the old wooden doors and the wooden plates upon which the teams painted their qualifying speeds were carefully saved when the wooden garges were torn down and are the subject of many requests from drivers, car owners, mechanics and race fans.

He said the list of drivers who have asked for such mementos includes A.J. Foyt, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser Sr. and Al Unser Jr. Lamson said crews will have to work through the winter to get the project finished in time for the opening of the track for 500-Mile Race practice, slated for Saturday, May 3, 1986. By JEP CADOU Jr.

STAR ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials broke ground Monday for the $3.5 million Gasoline Alley complex. Target date for completion of the 96-garage area is April IS, 1986. Turning the first spadesful of earth in the groundbreaking ceremonies were Speedway President Joseph R. Cloutier; Mari Hulman George, vice president; Tony Hulman George, vice president of the Speedway Foundation; Charles Thompson, Speedway superintendent, and Robert D. Lamson, supervising architect for the firm of Fink, Roberts and Petrie.

Cloutier declined to make an estimate of the cost of the project But, it was learned that architect's plans on file with the State Depart- ment of Fire Prevention and Building Safety contained an estimate of $3.5 million. That figure was confirmed by Michael E. Berry, assistant director of plan review for the department. Berry said the foundation permit was approved by the the department Monday, shortly before the groundbreaking. He said final approval for the entire project is pending.

The plans include two under- ground fuel tanks, one of gallon capacity for the methanol fuel the race cars burn and one of capacity for the gasoline the pace cars use. They will be located at the Valvoline headquarters at the extreme southeast corner of the new garage area. The enlarged Gasoline Alley will include about 60 percent more space than the old garage area had. It will be surrounded by 6-foot-high chain-link fences, so spectators without garage-area credentials still will be able to see crews working on race cars and to lure drivers to the fence to sign autographs. Individual garages, which will be constructed of concrete, will be about 30 percent larger than the old wooden garages most of them built in 1941 which they will replace.

Each garage will be 20 feet wide 25 feet deep. The ceilings, By FRED D. CAVINDER STAR STAFF WRITER Versailles, Ind. If you should drive into Versailles on U.S. 421 or U.S.

50, you might see the sign that says: "Fastest growing town in Indiana." You might wonder about it Don't ask. You might be able to count all the 1,560 souls (1980 census) in the Ripley County seat before you find out the origin of those signs. You could lose track of their significance before you tracked down the reason they exist Then, already confused, you might notice there is an identical sign at Napoleon, north of Versailles, and another at Friendship, south of Versailles. Believe it or not No wonder they call this county Ripley. "I think every town in Indiana's got one," remarked an employee in the office of the Ripley County clerk.

Not quite. Actually, Napoleon and Friendship got their signs from Versailles; some Versaillians use the harsh word stolen. John Hill is more charitable. He is in real estate sales and was a member Development bonds OKd for 6 projects in city Shepard Continued from Page 17 the claim and two judges, William I. Garrard and James B.

Young, have withdrawn their names from consideration for another Supreme Court position. The next Supreme Court opening is being created by the planned retirement in January of Justice Dixon W. Prentice. Orr said Monday, however, that he was pleased with the qualifications of the candidates recommended by the commission. He called the three finalists "all very capable men of high integrity." Orr said he decided Shepard was best qualified after reviewing credentials and interviewing each candidate for more than two hours.

"Randy Shepard is a man of very exceptional intellectual ability and at the same time (he has) a huge amount of common sense," Orr said. Shepard, a graduate of Princeton University and Yale University Law School, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Vanderburgh County court and was appointed to the State Student Assistance Commis The City-County Council Monday gave final approval to six proposals authorizing economic development bonds. The bonds approved were for: 129 Market Associates, $4,250 million for the renovation of the Midwest National Bank Building, an office building at 123-29 East Market Street. Lockerbie Partners $765,000 for the renovation of 15 residential rental units at 618 Vermont Place. Massachusetts Avenue Historical Partners, $1.75 million for the renovation of a building at 345 Massachusetts Avenue for office space.

Young Young Liberty Build STAR STAFF PHOfO Judge Randall T. Shepard, who will become the state's 99th Supreme Court justice, meets with Gov. Robert D. Orr (right). Officials seize 225 plants 1,317,436 attended 1985 state fair sion in 1980 by Gov.

Otis R. Bowen. As a Republican, Shepard won election to his superior court job in 1982. In 1984, Shepard was one of three finalists recommended to succeed the late federal Judge Cale J. Holder.

Sarah Evans Barker received the appointment. Shepard, who will become the 99th state Supreme Court judge, will serve until 1988. Then, assuming he wants to keep the job, Shepard's name will be placed on state election ballots and voters will decide whether he should be retained for a 10-year term. Shepard's new job wilt pay $60,000 annually. He also will receive $3,000 each year for expenses "This is a tremendously exciting time," Shepard said.

"It's something I look forward to attacking with all the vigor I can summon." The new judge said he plans to move to Indianapolis and will resign his position on the student assistance commission. Shepard is scheduled to start work after taking the oath of office during a Statehouse ceremony on Sept. 6. a director. He is not eligible for another term because in November he will have completed eight years on the board a job that cost him time lost on his farm.

However, it may not have cost-him as much as it did some of the other directors who also are farmers because he left two dependable sons at home to care for the farm, he said. Some other farmers, while away at the fair, either left work undone or hired labor. When Nash joined the board, directors were paid $25 a day for their work at the fair. Now it's $35 a day. Each directs a department, seeing that exhibits are in place and that employees and volunteers are performing their tasks.

In addition to attending two-day board meetings once a month, directors spend several days planning the fair. nance book basically guaranteeing an income flow was integral for approving the 1986 operating budget Monday. The board gave final approval to its $63.8 million spending plan. Those actions also cleared the way for a revenue bond issue, which could be as high at $45 million. To get a favorable interest rate for the bonds, the authority has to be able to show a definite source of income not subject to legal dispute.

The dispute with the rates arose when six airlines refused to pay charges that were being put into effect in 1980. Instead the airlines continued to use the 1978 rates. Legal action gave partial victory to both sides. The agreement resulted ing Partnership, $850,000 for renovation and some new construction at 120-28 North Delaware Street for office and commercial space. Web Realty of Indianapolis $1,335 million for construction and equipping of a manufacturing facility at 6803 Coffman Road to be used by Web Converting of Indianapolis Inc.

Indianapolis Historical Partners, $13.1 million for the renovation of eight buildings in the downtown, near-downtown and near-Northside areas that will be leased for residential or commercial use. The bonds are not obligations of the city and are paid off by the private developers of the projects. iields raid ships as well as White River. Miller said the final day would be spent removing marijuana plants detected in White River, Clark, Pleasant and Union townships. Some of the marijuana was removed from the same fields raided last year.

The Johnson County Drug Enforcement Team that raided the farm fields included police from Greenwood, Whiteland and Bargers-ville as well as conservation officers. credited Indianapolis police for providing two helicopters for the raids. Miller said that without the helicopters, "we wouldn't be getting half of the stuff we got." 1954, and high school basketball players back then didn't lift weights. Coficld and Mills aren't scrawny by any means, but they're not burly either. They also meet the height maximum of 6 feet 2, though just barely.

As far as acting is concerned, they said, it's just a matter of reliving one of the most emotional experiences an Indiana teen ager can have. "We're going to be playing basketball," Griff Mills said. "We can handle that. We've been doing it all our lives." How would he fill his time between Monday's basketball audition and Wednesday's drama tryout? "Practicing my dribbling, probably. Acting? I doubt it" Though being a director was not profitable, Nash has no regrets.

"I enjoyed it. It costs being on the fair board. But it costs you to play golf, too," he said. "There were no big problems at the fair this year," Nash said. "I was surprised and grateful.

We would have broken the attendance record if it had not been for the rain." Another director pleased with the operation of the fair, particularly the money saved in the swine barn cleanup, is Fountain County farmer Homer C. McDonald. "A scoop shovel and wheelbarrow job," the cleaning of the swine barn, was accomplished rapidly at big savings by volunteers from the Monrovia High School Football Booster Club as a fund-raiser, McDonald said. They did it for $1 a pen a total of about $3,000. It normally By ERNEST A.

WILKINSON STAR FARM WRITER After spending 13 busy days at the Indiana State Fair, William G. Nash headed home Monday to resume his work as a western Tipton County swine and grain farmer. Nash, president of the fair's board of directors, left with a sigh of relief but with considerable pride because the 1985 showcase of Hoosicr agriculture, which ended Sunday night, was the fourth most-attended on record. Attendance for the 12-day fair was 1.317,436. Preview night on Aug.

13 attracted another 65,000 people. While they were not charged admission, the fair received a percentage of money those people spent on carnival rides and at food concession stands. This year's fair is Nash's last as in marijuana STAR METRO REPORT Franklin, Ind. Authorities removed another 225 marijuana plants Monday from fields in White River Township in Johnson County and expect to haul away as many as 350 more when they complete the job today. Johnson County Sheriff's Sgt.

Doran G. Miller estimated the street value of Monday's harvest at $80,000. A total of 335 plants, with an estimated street value of $120,000, were removed Sunday during the first day of the operation. The raids Sunday took place in Clark, Franklin and Pleasant town Round Continued from Page 17 ably they are typical. Carlson and director David Anspaugh, an Indiana University alumnus, are agreeable to that.

They already have a star Gene Hackman for what they hope will be another sleeper movie with genuine Hoosicr flavor, on the order of Breaking Away. Getting the athletics authentic is Priority 1. "This state loves basketball," Carslon said. "We don't want people saying. 'This guy can't shoot.

Why'd you hire Some "of the better athletes to show up Monday were rejected for being too good or at least, too muscular. The movie is inspired by Milan High School's "miracle" stale championship of costs $3.50 per pen and usually takes at least two weeks. Now, other organizations have asked about the possibility of their members doing similar work at the fair as fund-raising projects, McDonald said. The booster club members were among about 2,000 volunteers who helped make the state fair a success, declared Sidney E. Hutchcraft.

the fair's secretary-manager. "No fair would go without volunteers," he added, "particularly county fairs, where 75 80 percent of. the work is done by them." Many people made favorable comments about this year's fair and some of the new conveniences there, he said. The new conveniences included tents over the horseshoe pitching courts and awnings over some of the benches along the shuttle routes. they simply did not understand the language of the rate pact, and he agreed to send a separate letter explaining four points.

The ordinances will be retroactive to 1980 and will result in the airport authority collecting a total of $6 million for the years when some of the airlines were paying lowcir fees than the others, Orcutt said. After the meeting, Orcutt said the revenue bonds could be issueU in late October or early November1. He hopes at least one of the projects construction of a new concourse can be started this year. The bond issue also is expected to pay for construction of a parking garage and various other improvements, i Board settles dispute on fees from airline after yearlong negotiations between the authority staff and representatives of the air carriers. At the Aug.

14 board meeting, a lawyer representing Delta Air Lines Inc. and Trans World Airlines Inc. said his clients still had questions about the ordinances and asked that approval be delayed. That request sparked a heated exchange with board Chairman John M. Vaughan, who said the delay could jeopardize a revenue bond issue that is needed for various projects at the airport.

Daniel Orcutt, authority executive director, told the board Monday that the dispute was resolved after he met with officials of the two airlines. He said it appeared By VINCE STRICHERZ STAR STAFF WRITER What seemed to be an uproar nearly two weeks ago was muted to barely audible tones Monday as the Indianapolis Airport Authority Board approved two ordinances setting landing fees and other rates for airlines serving the city. The ordinances embrace the tenets of a 90pagc agreement between the authority and the air carriers. The pact resolves a 5 year-old legal dispute on the way the airport determines charges for land ing and apron use, and rental for terminal space at Indianapolis International Airport, Getting the rates iqjo the ordi.