Mayor Gahan Joins Lawsuit Against Wholesale Opioid Distributors

Mayor Gahan joins others in a lawsuit against wholesale opioid distributors, which have helped spread the opioid addiction crisis.

“The opioid crisis is spreading to communities across the nation, and we all need to be more active in learning about what we can do to prevent opioid addiction,” stated Mayor Gahan.

Earlier this week, Mayor Gahan attended the 8th Annual Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Symposium in Indianapolis, where keynote speaker Governor Chris Christie, head of the National Commission on the Opioid Crisis, shared specifics on the epidemic which kills over 175 people per day. The conference featured workshops and speakers from a cross section of professions that intersect with the opioid crisis, including doctors, medical professionals, law enforcement officers, rehabilitation clinic professionals, municipal and state leaders, and more.

Here are a few startling facts that were presented at the conference:

• 4 out of 5 heroin addicts began their addiction on legal, prescription pain medications.
• Americans consume 85% of the world’s drugs, while holding only 4% of the world’s population.
• The opioid epidemic kills over 175 people every day.

Additionally, the City of New Albany applied and is under consideration for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayor’s Challenge Grant. The grant is focused on the need for early education, the adverse effects of a highly addictive group of drugs called opioids, and what we can do as a community to assist in fighting this epidemic.

Downtown 2-way Conversion Update - Market Fully 2-way on Oct 31

The Downtown Grid Modernization Project is nearing completion as crews are putting the finishing touches on the project.

Crews have been busy connecting detection loops into controller cabinets over the past week. This will allow the stoplights to detect cars waiting at a light, which should decrease wait times at stoplights in the downtown grid. For the past few months, these signals have been on a timer system. Crews will continue to monitor the detection loops over the next few weeks to help smooth downtown traffic. Work is also being finalized at the 15th and Spring Street intersection, as well as the Main and Pearl intersection, where crews are installing new controllers and signal heads as well as pedestrian crossing buttons.

The final stretch of Market Street set to be converted to 2-way traffic (from State Street to West 5th Street) will convert on October 31st. The intersection at Scribner and Market Street will temporarily be a 4-way stop while crews work to convert the signal. After this conversion is complete, all of Market Street will hold 2-way traffic.

Help our Tree Canopy thrive!

Do you know of a rare tree, or one with a unique feature near you? The New Albany Tree Board wants your help expanding their list of significant trees in New Albany. We are looking for trees that are noteworthy for their size, rare in New Albany, or have unique features. The trees must be either in the city’s right-of-way, a park, or can be plainly seen from a city street or alley – we cannot list trees on private property that the public cannot see.

The City of New Albany continues working to improve our tree canopy. By bringing awareness to unique trees that we have in the community, we can continue to improve on this together.

If you know of a specimen that deserves to be on the Tree Board’s list of Noteworthy Trees, please email Krisjans Streips, Tree Board Administrator, at kstreips@cityofnewalbany.com

M Fine Building on Main Street to Receive New Life

The City of New Albany, the IEDC, and the Lieutenant Governor’s office joined property developer Denton Floyd Real Estate Group and building operator Vitality Senior Services to celebrate the redevelopment of the historic M. Fine building along Main Street in New Albany.

The historic structure will be rehabilitated into an assisted living facility, hosting over 108 units that are a mix of affordable housing and private pay.

“This historic building has been out of service for nearly 20 years, and unless a certain group of local and State people, both public and private, come together at the right time, chances are that this building would have sat vacant for another 20 years or been lost,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “This is truly a huge victory for the people of New Albany, and it would not have happened without the work and cooperation between the city, the State of Indiana, and the developers.”

Mayor Jeff Gahan

Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch

Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch spoke at the event, and was encouraged to see the former factory being redeveloped for new use.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the revitalization of the former M. Fine & Sons building in New Albany,” said Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch. “The building that has sat vacant for decades will be transformed into a place that provides affordable housing for senior citizens and enhances New Albany’s downtown quality of place, creating a destination where people want to live, work and play.”

Denton Floyd Real Estate Group is a full service real estate investment, development, construction, and property management firm.  Its portfolio and services span across Southern Indiana, Louisville, and Lexington.  Denton Floyd specializes in adaptive reuse projects.  It takes pride in revitalizing aging and distressed/abandoned properties by renovating them back to their original historic character and creating a suitable use that fits the current economic needs of the area.

The $15 million project came together through a tax credit from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the City of New Albany.

The city’s investment comes in the form of a $1.15 million Urban Enterprise Zone tax credit, parking lots for the property, and the Main Street Improvement Project.

“I would like to thank both the State of Indiana and the City of New Albany for helping make this project a reality, both the IEDC staff and Mayor Gahan were integral in getting this project underway.  The pro-business mentality of the state and local governments solidified our final decision to proceed with this investment opportunity," stated Brandon Denton, Co-Founder of Denton Floyd Real Estate Group.

The building will be operated by Vitality Senior Services, a locally owned, premiere provider of senior services management, possesses over twenty-four years of successful senior housing, health care services and site development experience.  Vitality specializes in assisted living, skilled nursing and rehabilitative services.

“On behalf of Vitality Senior Services, I want to thank our partners at Denton Floyd and State and local officials for bringing this project to fruition.  The Mansion on Main is unique, the blending of historical features with state of the art amenities, will garner national attention for its innovation in adaptive reuse projects,” stated Todd Marsh, CEO of Vitality Senior Services.

For more information about the project itself, or to inquire about living at the property in the future, contact Todd Marsh with Vitality Senior Services at 812-914-1161.

City Moves to Protect Our History

Three historic preservation projects are set to kick off soon in downtown New Albany. The three properties targeted are the Baity Funeral Home along State Street, the Knights of Columbus building on Main Street, and the Reisz building on Main Street.

All three properties will undergo renovations and enhancements, bringing new life to the three historic properties in downtown.

“These projects will all serve three major goals: historic preservation, economic redevelopment, and blight removal,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “The city is 200 years old, and it is time for the city to support preservation efforts that will add to the historic character of New Albany.”

Baity Funeral Home

The Baity Funeral Home, also known as the Louis Hartman House, was constructed by S. Day & Sons in 1898, who built many of the city’s finest commercial and residential buildings at the turn of the 20th century. The building, which was showcased in a 2013 book by Ray Day, is a notable example of Queen Anne architecture, featuring corner turrets, multiple bay windows, shingled gables, wraparound columned porch, stained and leaded glass, oak woodwork, parquet flooring, and more.

The building served as the Baity Funeral Home, a prominent African-American business in the community, for over 40 years. Unfortunately, the building was badly damaged in January of 2017 by a fire and threatened with demolition.

Indiana Landmarks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to saving, restoring, and repurposing historic properties will be relocating their Southern Regional Offices to New Albany to save the endangered Louis Hartman House.

“We hope that revitalization efforts will continue north along the State Street corridor,” stated Greg Sekula of Indiana Landmarks. “This house will really help be the front door for the state street revitalization effort. Preserving our history is really all about sense of place and a community’s character, and what people want today is to connect to that community character. They want a place that has architectural beauty, has walkability, and we are certainly seeing that in our downtown area.”

Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus building is set to receive a new façade, bringing the building up to modern service. The Knights of Columbus has seen a resurgence as of late, with many citizens utilizing the facility, and engaging in charity work and community service at many levels throughout the community.

“It will benefit from the government level all the way down to the local level,” stated city councilman Dan Coffey.

Reisz Building

The historic Reisz Building on Main Street was constructed in the 1852 and was home to a flour mill. It then served as the Kraft Funeral Home, followed by the M. Fine & Sons shirt factory. The Reisz has also served as the home of the Graf Harness and Saddlery Shop, and has also been utilized by the Schmitt Furniture Company.

After being vacant for decades, the Reisz is set to be fully renovated and be the future home of city operations. The building is currently in poor structural condition, and was nearing the point of demolition if an investment was not made soon.

“The Reisz Building is currently an unsafe structure. The building is in a place right now where either something needs to be done, or it needs to come down for the safety of the community. We are dealing with massive settling of the structure, deteriorated posts and beams are holding it up, and if these issues are not corrected soon, could cause irreversible damage. Based on a recent safety inspection, these problems could have dire consequences for the building and those surrounding it if not corrected,” stated Building Commissioner David Brewer.

“This project is the perfect example of how historic preservation, blight removal, and economic redevelopment can come together to create a great project,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “By removing the blight from the area and saving this historic structure, the entire corridor will benefit. We have worked to try to find a solution for the building for years, but given the scale and condition of the property, it was difficult to find a private investor that could tackle the entire property and save this historic and full-of-character structure.”

“To come in and have a user that will redevelop the whole property – it will be a substantial investment. I think people will be very happy to see the interest coming in and redeveloping it, and it will also help the surrounding businesses see that their investment is going to be further complemented by the public investment in the Reisz building,” stated Mike Kopp, a prominent real estate developer who has helped transform historic structures for new uses.

The move in city operations makes sense not just for historic preservation, blight removal, and economic redevelopment purposes, but for basic finances of the city as well.

“It will save us money in the long-run to move out of the city-county building and to purchase the Reisz, and it will help cleanup a part of downtown,” stated city councilman Dan Coffey.

Currently, the city rents space from the county building authority at a cost of nearly $190,000 per year. The new city hall in the Reisz building will have 23,000 square feet, compared with the current 7000 square foot space leased in the city-county building. In the current building, the city pays $25.71 per square foot. In the new space, the cost will be reduced dramatically to $9.20 per square foot.

“When this project is complete, the residents of New Albany will own a new, modern city hall. Instead of throwing away our community’s tax dollars on rent, we will be investing in and saving a historic property that will be owned by the community and utilized for years to come,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan.