04 Feb Arts Innovation Will Thrive at Old Grain Elevator Site
We’re getting new neighbors. Hamilton County Area Neighborhood Development plans to redevelop the partially demolished grain elevator site in downtown Noblesville, just northeast of Noblesville Creates, to build the Elevator and Lofts — an arts-focused business incubator and affordable housing project.
The Granary is a great example of place-making, and turns what was once a community icon back into a real community asset. The Executive Director of Hamilton County Tourism, Brenda Myers, agrees.
Renderings of the upcoming Noblesville Granary by Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf and Peterson Architecture. (Photos courtesy of HAND.)
“As tourism and community development specialists, we always go by the goal of ‘great places to live are great places to visit and invest.’ This project is a perfect example of that mission,” she says.
Local architects and Noblesville Creates board members Darren Peterson and John Dierdorf created the plans, which show the preservation of the footprint of the wooden grain elevator. The plans keep in place the primary workroom on the south end, eight grain bins on the north end, and the historic limestone and brick foundation. “The foundation alone shows the craftsmanship and incredible investment made in 1904,” says Nate Lichti, Executive Director of Hamilton County Area Neighborhood Development (HAND). “It held up 350,000 bushels of wheat so we’re confident it can handle anything we propose.” Arts Innovation Will Thrive at Old Grain Elevator Site
Between the bins and the workroom, HAND proposes new commercial construction that will house “the Elevator,” a business incubator space for entrepreneurs working on hardware (i.e. industrial arts, textiles and sculpture). The Elevator will provide work space, show rooms and second story office/community room that will be set up with flexible workspace, similar to Launch Fishers.
The Lofts will include 54 apartments in a three-story building along Walnut and Ninth streets. Another 4,000 square feet of main floor commercial space along Eighth Street extends the downtown one block into the Southwest Quad. Noblesville Creates is also working with HAND and advocating for including live-work space for artists, as well as gallery space in this new structure.
HAND and its supporters are most excited about gaining more rooftops for Millennials and artists who bring so much vitality to the neighborhood. This, in addition to the future destination offered by the historic grain elevator, will be a site to behold.
Visit handincorporated.org for more information.
