Citywide Prayer Rally draws mayor, array of religious and cultural leaders 5.20.11

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

The Lafayette Square area on the Northwestside has been plagued in recent years by retail blight and a reputation for crime.
Could adding green space -- such as rain gardens in parking lots or trails along Lafayette Road -- as well as improving signage, lighting and landscaping really make a difference?
Northwestside residents and city leaders who gathered Thursday night certainly hope so. They met to discuss the International Marketplace Gateway Plan and what they hope will become a series of positive changes to the Lafayette Square area, centered around a shopping mall by the same name at West 38th Street and Lafayette Road.
"We need something like this," said Frank Danbeck, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years. "If we can get people paying closer attention, and if we can get decent people in the mall, we can bring it back."
The meeting included a summary of feedback residents gave in March for the plan to update the Lafayette Road corridor, bordered by I-65 on the north and east, Moller Road to the west and 38th Street to the south.
People most want to see amenities such as bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, said Jonathan Mooney, a project design manager from R.W. Armstrong, the project engineering firm. In their input, residents also sought more beautification efforts, an increase of public green space and cleanups of areas such as Little Eagle and Falcon creeks.
A committee from the Lafayette Square Area Coalition helped form ideas for the gateway-based revitalization in 2007. Leaders wanted a way to welcome motorists to stop at more than 80 ethnic restaurants and retailers in the area. Now their dreams are closer to fruition.
"So far, we are at concepts and nothing concrete," said John Bartholomew, a spokesman for the Department of Metropolitan Development. "This didn't happen overnight, and it's not going to get fixed overnight, but it's a start."
The gateway plan also seeks to attract new businesses to a retail area that is about 20 percent vacant.
One example of eliminating an empty building was on display during Thursday's gathering at the new Big Car Service Center for Contemporary Culture + Community, a name that plays off the building's former life as a Firestone Tire and Service Center.
Fountain Square-based Big Car's leaders envision a community garden, art gallery and community gathering place at the building next to Lafayette Square Mall.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20110520/LOCAL1804/105200333/1001/7daysarchives/Meeting-buoys-hopes-Lafayette-Square