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By midsummer, Fort Benjamin Harrison near Indianapolis will begin to look more like a city square than a training ground for soldiers, with shops, doctors' offices, professional buildings, and homes built by The Ryland Group, Columbia, Md.
Fort Harrison, one of dozens of military bases around the country closed by Congress between 1991 and 1995, is in the process of becoming the new hub of Lawrence, Ind. The base, which was once home to soldiers in training, still has a usable infrastructure of sewers, water plants, streetlights, classrooms, dormitories, houses, a gym, stores, and even a golf course.
The Army, as it has done elsewhere, first asked city officials if they wanted to buy part of the empty 2,500-acre fort. They did, paying $6.1 million for 550 acres. Then, the city successfully lobbied the state of Indiana to buy 1,700 undeveloped acres of the unused base from the Army and donate it to the city for parkland. Part of that park includes a golf course, which the city recently opened to the public after hiring famed green designer Pete Dye to spruce it up.
To seal the deal, the city created the quasi-governmental Fort...