No. 2456 expanding the boundaries of the Airport Economic Development Area, expanding the allocation area for purposes of tax increment financing and amending the Airport Economic Development Area Development Plan (Portage Prairie)

Home Browse Search

deterioration. The neighborhood boundaries are generally considered to be the railroad tracks (north), Main Street (east), Olive Street (west), and Ewing Avenue (south). The neighborhood is divided by State Road 23 (Prairie Avenue) which runs on a diagonal from southwest to northeast across the neighborhood. (See Map 13.) Sections of this corridor have developed into commercial uses and residential uses have been converted to non-residential uses. The residential street grid pattern is also interrupted by a large area of land in the middle of the neighborhood (Donald, Swygart, Kemble, and Bruce) that is used by the Army Reserve for its training center. Indiana Avenue, running east to west across the north edge of the neighborhood, is another section of the neighborhood that includes large areas ofnon-residential uses. Once a thriving neighborhood business district, Indiana Avenue now contains many substandard buildings and marginal commercial uses. As with many inner-city commercial strips and nodes, Indiana Avenue has declined as the use of automobiles increased, shopping habits changed, and competition grew on the city's urban edges. At both the east and west ends of the neighborhood, non-residential land uses have had a major negative impact on the residential sections of Rum Village. On the east, between William and Michigan Streets, the area is dominated by small manufacturing land uses and several scrap and salvage yards. Several rail lines serving the former Studebaker complex and corridor between Michigan Street and Franklin Street are still present. Rail line use is sporadic and several spur lines have been abandoned. Nonetheless, the commercial and industrial areas remain on the neighborhood's eastern edge and residential deterioration is evident. On the western boundary of the neighborhood (which abuts the Rum Village Industrial Park), Olive Street and its non- residential uses have intruded into the neighborhood along sections of Indiana Avenue and Franklin Street. As a result, the residential areas of these commercial corridors have deteriorated, particularly north of Indiana Avenue and west of Franklin Street. The interior of the neighborhood has pockets of residential deterioration, exhibiting itself in scattered areas in the form of small groupings of homes. Although not significant in themselves, these pockets of deterioration affect the entire sub-area. Also, several areas of the neighborhood have large parcels of vacant land or numerous vacant lots interspersed among the housing stock. Two other areas are worth noting in terms of redevelopment and revitalization challenges: the section of the neighborhood located between the rail line on the north and Indiana Avenue on the south contains a mix of vacant land, incompatible uses, deteriorating residential structures and poor circulation and environmental conditions. Portions of this narrow band should be redeveloped and the land use changed. This will require careful delineation of this narrow band of land into economic development and redevelopment and revitalization sections. The second area of note is the intersection of Indiana Avenue and Prairie Avenue (S.R. 23). This intersection contains several large structures, including the former Oliver Elementary School, now a vacant, 80,000 square foot structure. This node and the Oliver School offer both a challenge and an 16