Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight (Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)
Early voting is up in Howard County, more housing options are under construction, Indiana University is investing into the IUK campus and a new park bears the name of Kokomo's last fallen officer.
On this week’s installment ofAsk The Mayor, Kokomo’s Greg Goodnight addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation withIndiana Newsdeskanchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: Election day is coming up in a couple weeks and you can feel it heating up. Historically voting turnouts are low for midterms… is there a renewed interest in politics and voting?
Goodnight: Right now early voting is up, it's the highest it's been in the last two or three cycles. So I think there is a little more interest, but that could be people who are tired of the negativity and the ads that go with it, so maybe they're just trying to get that off their plate.
Hren: Construction should be starting on a 58 unit apartment duplex at Sycamore and Apperson Way, but it includes the restoration of a historic building. Could you tell us a little bit more about how that came to be?
Goodnight: That was part of the agreement. We try to focus on underutilized property. Some structures were taken down, the only structure we thought was important was one that sits on the back part of the lot. That was built in the early 1880's and we thought it was important to preserve that piece of our history. So that's going to be part of the project as they have three different apartment buildings in the complex, this will be the fourth one made into two units, one upstairs and one downstairs.
It's a private developer that's doing this and it's market rate so this will not be luxury, this will not be subsidized for low to moderate income.
The devloper will restore the istoric house built in the early 1880's into two living units. (Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)
Hren: I read in the Kokomo Tribune that construction is also about to start on 45 lease to purchase townhomes. I think it’s common in cities with new apartments going up for some to say the city is being overrun with apartments… but that’s not really the case is it?
Goodnight: We try to remind people, but the truth is this is private development and banks are financing this. Even though the city is part of the roll out, it's not a city government project. That's a challenge for every mayor.
Hren: A new IU Kokomo building was approved since we talked, that’s on the IUK campus – so you’re also seeing investment from Indiana University too.
Goodnight: This is the third maybe fourth year in a row, IUK is the fastest growing campus in IU's network. A few years ago we did the first private student housing complex, there's a second private investment going up.
The new campus building is multi-use for sports activities and banquets and large dinner events and it will be built right in the center part of campus.
The splash pad and park was recently dedicated in honor of Kokomo's last fallen officer. (Joe Hren, WFIU/WTIU News)
Hren: You had a naming and dedication ceremony for a new park and splash pad north of downtown. Is it officially open?
Goodnight: It is, just about six blocks right along the Industrial Heritage Trail. It's a park and ride for bicycle enthusiasts it also has public restrooms, but we also made a small pocket park with a splash pad. It was named after a fallen Kokomo police officer George Al Berryman who was shot down back in the 1950s.
We have a fallen officer ceremony every spring and his children came to me after the ceremony. We had the park and splash pad under preliminary design, but no name for it and they came and wanted to name something after their father so we thought this would be a nice fit.
