Efforts Underway To Revitalize Downtown Batesville

Batesville Mayor Rick Fledderman spoke during the main street meeting at  the Sherman House on Wednesday evening.
Batesville Mayor Rick Fledderman spoke during the main street meeting at the Sherman House on Wednesday evening.

The community’s help is needed to rebuild Batesville’s Main Street Program and revitalize downtown. A meeting was held Wednesday at the Sherman House to begin the process of identifying ways to redevelop the area.

Batesville Main Street is a designated Indiana Main Street Community. Efforts were made a few years ago to create a vision for downtown as a board was established, but later somewhat fell apart.

Community Development Director Sarah Lamping is now leading the charge to revitalize downtown Batesville. Four committees have been created to achieve that goal. They are categorized as organization, design, promotions and economic restructuring.

The organization committee takes the responsibility for managing the financial and logistical aspects of a nonprofit. The design committee will contribute in shaping the physical appearance of downtown to shoppers, investors, business owners and visitors.

The promotions committee will be responsible for promoting downtown business and community life. The economic restructuring committee will identify new market opportunities and also work with existing businesses in retaining them in downtown.

Each committee is open to any community member interested in contributing to the revitalization. Contact Sarah Lamping at (812) 933-6113 or email at [email protected]

“Everyone is able to participate. You just have to be a local community member that cares about the success and long term viability of our downtown area,” Lamping said.