Content area
Full Text
Fishers seeks input on plans for park beach
řor decades, 70 acres along Geist Reservoir in Fishers have sat largely undeveloped. In Mayor Scott Fadness' mind, they're prime for a park-one that will open the largely private lake to the public.
Soon, that vision could start to become a reality.
Irving Materials Inc. will cease operations at the end of the year at the site, east of Olio Road between 113th Street and Waterway Boulevard, where it's operated a quarry for years.
And Fishers officials say they're launching a public process to develop the park and will begin prepping the site to be turned into a beach.
The meetings and work come more than a year after Fadness announced plans to build a 70-acre waterfront park at the fareast end of the reservoir, one that could feature a beach, boardwalk, boat launch and other amenities.
But the city couldn't really start on the project until it completed its purchase of the land, which had been owned by Greenfieldbased Irving Materials and Indianapolisbased Marina Limited Partnership. That happened earlier this month.
Now, the city is preparing to move forward.
The 1,900-acre Geist Reservoir was man-made in the 1940s to provide drinking water to Indianapolis. Some 40 years later, expensive homes popped up along its banks, which touch Hamilton, Marion and Hancock counties.
The IMI site was poised to be developed into 100 more homes before Fishers stepped in, purchasing the land for $15.8 million, a price determined through an eminent-domain proceeding.
The Fishers Redevelopment Commission on...