Sept. 07–It’s not as much as was sought, but the city’s Redevelopment Commission appears ready to contribute $750,000 toward the $10 million renovation of the long-vacant Indiana Hotel.
Redevelopment Director Greg Leatherman said the Commission on Monday will consider a resolution pledging that amount to the project, which will convert four floors of the former seven-story hotel attached to the Embassy Theatre into classrooms, rehearsal space, roof-top garden and a two-story ballroom. If approved, the money would reimburse the Embassy for expenses connected to the project three years and would come fro property taxes collected in the area.
Embassy Executive Director Kelly Updike asked the Commission for $1 million last month and said she would like a similar amount from other public sources, such as the city’s “Legacy” fund or food and beverage taxes controlled by the Capital Improvement Board.
The Goldstine Foundation announced a $2 million grant to the project in June, and Updike said last month about $4 million has been raised to date, with a goal of $6 million by the end of the year. Construction couild start in the spring, with completion in 2015. The hotel opened in 1928 and closed in 1971.
The city has supported work at the Embassy before, Leatherman noted. In 2007 it spent more than $1 million on elevators, stairs and an elevated walkway to the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, which allowed renovations to the Indiana Hotel’s third floor. The Commission’s action is not expected to influence the Embassy’s request for other public funds, he added.
Updike was unavailable for comment.
