Mayor updates community on projects and cooperation

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop delivered his State of the City address last night from inside the former Carson’s store at the Fair Oaks Mall.

The focus of much of the speech was on the way the city of Columbus uses partnerships to tackle problems in the community.

Lienhoop discussed last year’s purchase of the mall after recognizing the need for an indoor sports complex.

The city will still need to determine the future of Donner Center once park offices are moved to the mall property.

He cited the mall project as a cooperative effort between the city, Columbus Regional Health and Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.

The touched on the proposed downtown riverfront project saying that the project is needed, not just to provide recreation downtown, but it is essential to take care of the deadly low-head dam and the ongoing erosion that threatens the former city dump and Superfund site.

He says that, for reasons no one can explain, the dam wasn’t constructed properly, leading to the erosion…

He also updated the crowd on the railroad overpass project on the west side of Columbus, saying that the project is “on track.”

The mayor stressed that the earliest the project can begin is the third quarter of this year with a completion date of fourth quarter of next year.

He cited the railroad overpass as a partnership between the city, Bartholomew County, the Indiana Department of Transportation and Cummins Inc.

The mayor said that the best way to tackle these challenging issues is to always look to the future, and to look for partners.

The mayor’s complete 2018 State of the City speech is available here: