The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page A19

ammers have been echoing through Carmel City Center all summer, ending a three-year construction hiatus and ignaling a new round of growth that ould last years and bring Mayor Jim Euro-flavored downtown vision closer to completion. vision of building a walkable, multipurpose downtown takes money lots of it. And he ability to use public funds to carry out that vision increasingly hinges on a sometimes skeptical City Council. As development of another big residential and commercial complex off Rangeline Road plows a head, Pedcor one of the longtime private-sector development partners, is preparing to ask for support. The company says it needs $16 million in tax inc rement financing to help pay for a parking garage a nd other infrastructure for the next phase of City enter, a massive project that has been in the works for nearly a decade.

It includes residences, shops, restaurants, theaters, a reflecting pool, a her oic statue, offices, fountains, piazzas, an outdoor events lawn and the lavish neoclassical Palladium oncert hall. trying to build a center city core, where if one chooses to live in that area, very The sweeping plans for City Center span from the Center for the Performing Arts to residences, retail shops and parking garages. But some wonder at what point the market will take over supporting the effort. KELLY WILKINSON STAR Is more aid key to City Center? City Council grows keptical of the continuing eed to use ublic funds to finance owntown evelopment By Lydia INDY STAR 2ND 2014 A19 METRO A ngel Sanders remembers, at age 7 or 8, being taken to the ld Marion County Guardian Home with her two sisters, Ashley and Amber. The Indiana polis triplets shared smiles with each other the other day smiles that said, hard to believe how much een as they talked about their stay in the home for abused and neglected children.

It was like the Angel said. was a room with a bunch of kids and a bunch of beds. There was a little cubby for your of those kids were Amber chimed in, before telling me that they stayed in the home for a few weeks before being placed infoster care with a relative. I was a long time ago, the three 24-year-old women said recently, and it as just one stop in a childhood arked by two long stints in foster care, several months in shelters with heir mom, and so many different schools, homes and apartments that they struggle to keep them all straight. It almost seems like a dream it seems so far Ashley said.

we have each other, I know ow we could have done it. I know who we would have had to talk to about all the things we were going ut this is not a story about dysfunction and defeat. a story about success, and victory over huge obstacles. The triplets, you see, are proud graduates of Indiana University with big plans for the future. Their story proves how much young people can overcome, and provides yet more evidence that they need not be efined by their dysfunctional sur- Triplets overcame big obstacles to excel at IU Matthew Tully Columnist Recent IU grads Amber (from left), Ashley and Angel Sanders.

PROVIDED BY I NDIANAPOLIS METROPOLITAN HIGH SCHOOL one comes into this neighborhood on acci- Judy Joyner said the words half-jokingly, but she kidding. Around her, neighbors she has known for decades chuckled nowingly and nodded in agreement. Welcome to The Valley. an oasis perched in an industrial wasteland blocks from the shuttered General Motors stamping plant. Here, find historic houses, parks, schools and homeowners who care about their neighborhood.

close to Downtown, tucked between Harding Street and the hite River, near both Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Zoo. Yet few people even know it exists. like the armpit of the said Rahnae Napoleon, who has ived on River Avenue in The Valley or more than 20 years. are treated like we count. For months, residents of this forgotten neighborhood have been pro- esting Mayor Greg plan to urn the site of the crumbling GM lant into a colossal new Marion County criminal justice complex.

With a price tag of up to $400 million, it would replace the Marion ounty Jail, Jail 2, Arrestee Processing Center, the juvenile complex the Northeastside, more than 20 courts and dozens of offices for public officials. a massive project that needs happen for financial and other reasons. ut also a project that has the potential to finish off The Valley as a iable neighborhood. After all, who wants to live next to a jail? Who wants to deal with the traffic of thousands of employees, visitors and eople in legal trouble navigating narrow streets designed for resi- ential use? If that bad enough, now a new proposal: a large amphitheater. A few days ago, Carmel developer REI Investments confirmed that it opes to put a concert venueand 5,000 parking spaces on alf of the 102-acre GM site.

How big would such an amphitheater be? Klipsch Music Center in oblesville can seat 18,000 on the lawn and another 6,000 under its canopy. Bankers Life Fieldhouse, in aconcert configuration, seats about 15,000. And the Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park, so close to The Valley that residents can hear the music, seats about 7,000. Residents on River Avenue are disgusted by the idea and understandably so. The last thing we need Downtown is another venue for concerts.

Not when we already have the Lawn at White River State Park, Bankers ife, The Murat Theatre at Old National Centre and even the occasional show at Lucas Oil Stadium. A nd we certainly need a concert venue that would rival Klipsch on the edge of a neighbor- ood with homes, schools, parks and ahandful of small businesses. is the city handling this so Jeff Gearhart, executive director of West Indianapolis Devel- pment asked in frustration. like the other economic development projects done. in a neighborhood, and they seem to recognize Residents are beginning to lose hope.

When I asked a half-dozen homeowners whether they thought he City-County Council would block the project, they let out a collective Erika D. Smith Columnist GM site proposal hreatens The Valley NOT TOO LATE TO REFINANCE AND CUT YEARS OFF YOUR MORTGAGE OR LOWER YOUR PAYMENT. CLOSING COSTS ARE ONLY CALL TODAY! 317.841.2222 MORTGAGE CONSULTANTS AVAILABLE TO ASSIST YOU 317-841-2222 Indianapolis 317-865-1166 Greenwood 812-378-9906 Columbus 812-323-7200 Bloomington 260-451-2080 Fort Wayne BUYING A NEW HOME? MAKE IT AS EASY AS 1-2-3 STEP GET PRE-APPROVED AT UNION SAVINGS BANK STEP HIRE A REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL STEP PURCHASE YOUR NEW HOME! MORTGAGE FINANCING Purchase and nance Owner Occupied Investment New Construction Lot Loans Commercial Apartments Churches Year Conventional loans based on $150,000 loan amount, LTV. Principal and Interest payments of $726.97. 15 Year conventional loans based on $150,000 loan amount, LTV.

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