The City of Shelbyville will receive $5,750,000 of the $20 million allotted to Accelerate Rural Indiana as part of the state’s READI funding.

The money has been earmarked for three local projects: infrastructure needs for the proposed Porter Apartments project, a new indoor sports complex at Blue River Memorial Park, and an early learning center to assist getting young children school ready.

“Right now, it’s not been bad,” said Shelbyville Mayor Tom DeBaun of the process to effectively divvy up $20 million within the four communities and three counties that comprise Accelerate Rural Indiana. “As a group we’ve sat down and parsed through these projects. It’s been pretty agreeable. There hasn’t been any territorialism.”

The Regional Economic Acceleration & Development Initiative (READI) delivered $500 million to 17 regional groups from around the state. Accelerate Rural Indiana consisted of the cities of Shelbyville, Rushville, Greensburg and Batesville as well as Shelby County, Rush County and Decatur County.

The maximum award for each proposal was $50 million. Accelerate Rural Indiana received $20 million. How to delineate that money throughout its overall proposal that included 40 prospective projects in the region was the next step.

For each project, there is a READI funds request, a public matching of the READI amount and a private funding amount.

“A lot of it was need,” said DeBaun of selecting the right projects that should proceed in each community. “For the early learning center, it was easy to figure out. We’ve been talking about that for awhile.

“The sports complex, we have a group that is interested in contributing as well as operating. We own the land clearly so it was a timing issue. Porter Apartments was another where they wanted to pull the trigger quick. We know the infrastructure need is there and we are already in the process so it was easy to do. We need the people downtown and we need the apartments.”

An Indianapolis-based developer has purchased the former Coca-Cola bottling plant (photo) near downtown Shelbyville as well as land behind the facility to create a mixed-use development that will include an apartment complex near the former site of Porter Pool.

The total cost of the project is $29,500,000. The READI funds ask is $250,000 to be used for infrastructure in the area and will be matched with public funding. The private funding is $29 million.

For more on the project: https://shelbycountypost.com/local-news/626786

The proposed indoor sports complex at Blue River Memorial Park, 725 Lee Boulevard, will include basketball and volleyball courts as well as a turf field section for a multiple sports usage facility.

The READI funds ask is $2.5 million which will be matched with public funding. The private funds commitment is $16 million.

The final design of the facility is not yet complete, according to DeBaun, but will be at least 100,000 square feet and will allow for competitions in several sports.

“Depending on the layout, there is potential for expansion,” said DeBaun.

The goal is to start construction in 2023 and be complete in the second quarter of 2024.

 A new early learning center would be built in Intelliplex Park near Major Health Partners’ Wortman Nephrology Center, 2460 Intelliplex Drive.

The $8 million project includes $3 million in READI funding, $3 million in public funding and $2 million in private funding.

DeBaun said the city would enter in an operator agreement with Bright Horizons to run the facility that would be for children age five and younger.

The goal is to break ground in 2022 and have the facility open in 2023.