A downtown Nashville project nearly 30 years in the making is now open for business — er, play.
State and local dignitaries cut the ribbon on the Village Green Revitalization Project on Oct. 27.
It’s a vision that began in the 1980s but finally began to take shape in May 2016, when the town won a $50,000 Place Based Investment Fund grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.
The lawn in front of the new Village Green Restrooms is now a place where children can burn off excess energy and parents or grandparents can rest or read on benches or play at game tables.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]This is the first and only public play space in downtown Nashville.
The choice of location was deliberate.
In the 1940s, famed Brown County photographer Frank Hohenberger snapped a picture of boys playing marbles on this same lawn, said Nancy Crocker, president of the Nashville Arts & Entertainment Commission.
She called the project an “upcycling of this historic area of our town.”
Now, children can hop on logs set in the ground, sit on them to enjoy a performance at the small amphitheater there, or play with the “interactive fence” of scrap metal parts — all created by local artisans.
In Nashville’s formative years, the Four Corners were the gathering space for locals, visitors and animals because of the artesian well at the southeast corner.
With their own donations and grants, the Rotary Club of Brown County rebuilt the deteriorating pumphouse and installed a 100-plus-year-old pump handle where there was none.
Maps of Nashville and Brown County, facts about its history, and information about its historic and recreational sites also were added in a kiosk outside the restrooms. That was a partnership with the Hoosier National Forest and DNR, in an effort to more closely connect the town with recreational areas out in the county.
Several partners kicked in cash and donated labor to make the $50,000 match, including the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Nashville Town Council, Brown County Community Foundation, Smithville Charitable Foundation, the Hoosier National Forest, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Nashville Arts & Entertainment Commission, Nashville Food & Beverage Commission, Betsy Lease, Steve Miller Architects, Administrative Resources association, the Rotary Club of Brown County and Rotary district leadership, Dave Talbott (Curry & Associates), Cathy Martin, Lamond Martin and Crocker.
Town Manager Scott Rudd told the crowd that this is an example of what the community learned through its unsuccessful bid for Stellar Communities recognition in 2014.
“We learned that our community likes to fully participate in determining its future. We learned that taking a grassroots, bottom-up approach is highly valued. We learned that moving slowly and intentionally is very important. We learned that we need to listen carefully to each resident before implementing. We learned that we need to collaborate and engage our partners in new and innovative ways,” he said.
“So I’m happy to say that through this Village Green Revitalization project, we’ve implemented these values. We learned a lot from each other, and it was not easy, but we made it. Look at what we accomplished. We revitalized a space in our community that can be enjoyed for years to come. And it would not have been possible without your willingness to come to the table, trust one another and make something happen.”
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- Game tables and seating by Robb Besosa
- Amphitheater and log hops by The Beamery
- Metal fence by Brad Cox
- Carved stone pieces by Mary Ann Thompson
- Informational kiosk by Joe McLocklin and Robb Besosa
- Kiosk maps by The 360 Group
Labor also came from Bird Snider, Paul Bay & Sons Masonry, Wheeler Electric, Wagler Excavating, Bear Hardware, Todd Baker Lawn Care and crew, Josh McCulley, Rotary Club members and town workers.
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