In 2020, the City of Westfield will see the completion of the Monon Trail pedestrian bridge crossing and Ind. 32, and construction will continue on Grand Junction Park and Plaza. In addition, public/private partnerships will continue to be developed, according to Westfield Mayor Andy Cook.
“Outside of public investment, most of what you’re going to see in the next several years will be the private-sector return on the public sector’s investment,” Cook said. “I mean that by what you’ve already seen in Northpoint (business park). Those are companies that are coming here because of the investment that our people have allowed us to make.”
Gordon Food Services’ distribution center and a facility for Abbott, a heart-valve device manufacturer, will begin construction in Northpoint, at the northeast quadrant of U.S. 31 and 191st Street, in the spring. Construction is estimated to be complete by 2022. Construction on Union Square, a mixed-use development with apartments at the southwest quadrant of Ind. 32, will begin in the spring as well. The Westfield Playhouse on the east side of North Union Street is under construction with a tentative completion date of summer 2020.
“That’s our whole theme,” Cook said. “We’ve been investing for years in infrastructure, in our road expansion, in our trails expansion, things that make a place, and now the private sector is looking at the place we’ve created and are saying to us, ‘We want to invest in your community because we know we can find a workforce here.'”
Cook hinted at the possibility of other announcements for the downtown Westfield area.
“The incentive for the downtown is Grand Junction, and you already see Union Square, you have already seen Park Street (businesses), and now you will see a lot of developers bringing forth projects in the downtown area. That’s all I’ll say about that,” he said.
Grand Junction Park and Plaza is estimated to be complete by 2022. Cook said the development still has lots of infrastructure work to finish.
“Foundations and lighting and all of the underground stuff,” Cook said. “First, they have to do a lot of grading. That’ll all happen in the spring, and then I will say by 2021 we will start to see the majority of the vertical structures (constructed).”
The Westfield Boulevard extension from Park Street to David Brown Drive, also known as 169th Street, will be complete by winter 2020.
Other road construction includes improvements, such as widening, will be done to 196th Street between Grassy Branch Road and East Street to accommodate Gordon Food Services’ distribution center. The Monon Trail bridge is projected to open in April. It was delayed a few months for lighting installation.
Outside of major city projects, Cook said construction of more restaurants and entertainment venues will begin. Construction of a Meijer grocery will begin at the southeast quadrant of Ind. 32 and Spring Mill Road in the spring. The Westfield Washington Schools natatorium is under construction at the southwest quadrant of Wheeler Road and 181st Street. It is slated to open in fall 2020. The YMCA, which will be built on the same quadrant, is still in its funding phase and doesn’t have a construction start date.
New staff, Wellbeing Coalition updates
New staff coming in 2020 for the City of Westfield includes 10 police officers and three firefighters.
The City of Westfield also will continue to establish the Westfield Wellbeing Coalition, a joint effort between the Hamilton County Community Foundation, Westfield Washington Schools and the city to improve well-being across in areas of mental, physical, social, emotional and spiritual health by improving community-wide processes, resources and training opportunities. A survey will be launched in January to assess residents’ well-being.
