By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Work at the Legacy Heights housing development could begin in the next 30 days, and actual home construction could begin later this year.
That was one of the many takeaways from Mayor Scott Long’s “Community Meeting” on May 11.
About 20 people gathered at the Wabash County Museum to hear updates on various projects in the city.
The Legacy Heights project – at the site of the former Parkview Wabash Hospital – will have 44 units with two common areas, including one in the center of the area.
There will be nine duplexes and 26 single family bungalows.
“These are properties that will appeal to certain segments of the market,” said Ryan Chasey, co-founder and chief operating officer of the Fort Wayne-based Housing Resource Hub, which is assisting the city with the project.
“The site itself is great because it’s in an existing neighborhood,” he continued. “We wanted to do something on that site.”
Site remediation will begin, possibly within the next 30 days, at the location. Immediately following that, infrastructure will be put into place.
“We anticipate that by the end of September or early October we will be in a position to start to see home construction on those lots,” Chasey said.
The Trax project, which will construct an overpass on East Street over the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, also was touched on during the meeting.
Patrick McCallister, Right of Way Acquisition Manager at WSP USA, said that some funding changes on the federal level caused the project to slow a bit, but all the appraisals are done for the homes that will be purchased.
“Construction-wise, I think we’re still on schedule,” he said. “You’ll probably see some utility work toward the end of the year. The main part of the construction will probably begin in the spring and run through June or July of 2025.”
The funding change came, Long said, when federal dollars were thrown into the mix.
Turning to another project, the mayor noted the city received $509,000 in Community Crossing money which will be used to rebuild McKibben Street and Glendale Avenue on the south side.
“At the same time we’re going to install some upsized storm lines to help alleviate flooding issues that we’ve had over the years,” he said.
The city is also working with Duke Energy to convert some streetlights to LED lighting.
Long also discussed recent trips he and representatives from Grow Wabash County took to try to drum up interest in the area for industrial development.
The mayor and Keith Gillenwater, president and CEO of Grow Wabash County, recently spent a week in Germany attending Hannover Messe, one of the world’s largest trade fairs.
While there, the two met with representatives from 40 countries, ranging from Serbia and the Ukraine, “to points in between,” Long said.
The pair also visited with officials from Fricke Holding, which recently purchased CFC Distributing, to thank them for their investment in Wabash County, and with officials from Kalenborn Abresist, which has a plant in Urbana.
Long and Gillenwater, along with Grow Wabash County VP Tenille Zartman and Sara Delgadillo, Grow Wabash’s Director of Global Initiatives, attended the Select USA trade show in Washington, D.C.
Christine Flohr, executive director of Visit Wabash County, and Andrea Zwiebel, Downtown Wabash executive director.
Flohr talked about the impact of tourism on the county. In 2021, visitors spend $65.1 million here, while Zwiebel talked about various events and changes taking place in the downtown area.
Long praised both of them for their efforts in helping to promote the city.
