Columbus Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – August 17, 2026

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission met in regular session on August 17, 2026, with President Cindy Bowl presiding. Members present included Trina Carter, Shandon McDonald, Jim Lennon, and Scott Ballard; Assistant Director Michaela Brown also attended. The commission unanimously approved the July minutes and monthly claims, then heard project updates and a Downtown 2030 liaison report.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the July 20, 2026 regular meeting minutes by unanimous voice vote; motion by Shandon McDonald, second by Cindy Bowl.
• Approved monthly claims totaling $1,633,167.93, including an additional claim of $10,611.48 added to the claims table that morning; motion by Jim Lennon, second by Scott Ballard; passed unanimously.

Project Updates

• Gateway Plaza: Currently in the scoping period to finalize engineering documents and establish a guaranteed maximum price. The commission expects a future appropriation request and public information release after due diligence finalizes the funding sources.
• Second Street Thoroughfare: The utility water main replacement is largely complete; workers are completing intersection tie-ins and will then proceed block by block with curb/gutter, north-side bump-outs for on-street parking, and shortened pedestrian crossings. Completion is expected in late August or early September 2026.
• Riverfront: Work paused last week because of rain and high water. Once conditions improve, crews will form and pour retaining footers, build sidewalks in 100-foot sections from the amphitheater toward the Second Street Bridge, and complete about 355 feet of retaining wall along the trail between August and early September, pending weather. The October 23, 2026 ribbon cutting remains on schedule; save-the-date notices and a formal RSVP invitation will be issued for the public event.
• Water Street area: The CRC completed property-line cleanup and property swaps with railroads, recorded the replatting, rezoned and disposed of parcels, and signed an access agreement with the new owners to keep the riverfront staging area available through construction.
• Robert and Seward Bridge (Second Street Bridge): Bids for the bridge deck overlay and recoating project were received in early August and came in under the engineer’s estimates. The bridge will be repainted bright red for the first time since the late 1990s; work may mobilize this fall with repainting next spring, and completion is scheduled by July 2027.
• Project Encore / Crump Theater: The CRC is conducting due diligence on a possible TIF-related support request for the Crump renovation and redevelopment, with a formal introduction possible at the September 2026 CRC meeting. Crump Theater for the Performing Arts announced it was awarded nearly $6.1 million through the state’s Ready 2.0 Arts and Culture initiative.

Downtown 2030 Liaison Update

• Trina Carter reported completed Downtown 2030 items including the 5th Street Mill Race Park entrance cleanup, maintenance of the forested buffer along Water Street and the railways, the Avenue of the Architects vinyl installation, new picnic tables, the Third Street Dancing Seas mural, a single-visit Columbus community calendar, and an updated city event policy to make events easier to hold.
• Ongoing initiatives include wayfinding signage with DPW and visitor centers, the Mill Race Park master plan, native tree replacement along the 6th and Franklin parking lot, the July 6 relaunch of River Rats, the new Millrace Park playground, and support for Crump rehabilitation.
• Carter noted that Jacob Sai and partners submitted a joint nomination to designate downtown census tract 101 as an opportunity zone; partners include the city/county visitor center, Columbus Capital Foundation, Johnson Ventures, Russell Development Company, the EDC, CMI, and the South Central Indiana Talent Region. Designation decisions are expected at the end of September 2026.
• Michaela Brown added that the Downtown 2030 website was updated with responses received from the Fourth Street RFQ/RFI seeking a lead development partner for parcels at the end of Fourth Street; three separate submissions were received and their qualifications posted publicly.

Key Outcomes

• The July 20, 2026 meeting minutes were approved unanimously.
• Claims were approved in the amount of $1,633,167.93.
• No other action items were presented; the commission voted unanimously to adjourn.