Erika D. Smith

erika.smith@indystar.com

For decades, residents in the impoverished neighborhoods of the Near Westside have sat in the shadow of Downtown, cut off from the economic engine of the state by the White River.

That's about to change.

At least that's the intent of a $30 million deal that Mayor Greg Ballard, along with officials from IUPUI and the Lilly Endowment, will announce Monday.

Under this three-way partnership, the Near Westside will be better connected to the university and Downtown by turning Michigan and New York streets from one-way into two-way thoroughfares through IUPUI's campus and across the river into Haughville, Stringtown and Hawthorne. West Street also will get a pedestrian- and bike-friendly makeover.

At the same time, the Indiana University Natatorium, host to major national and international swimming and diving events for the past 30 years, will get a much-needed upgrade.

The city, using funds from the Downtown tax increment financing (TIF) district, will kick in $10 million to pay for the road construction in and around campus. IUPUI will chip in $10 million to fix up the Natatorium, along with another $10 million from The Lilly Endowment.

The result, after what promises to be a painful two years of construction, will be the infrastructure needed to help attract new development and residents to the Near Westside, more students to IUPUI, and tourism dollars from bigger and better swimming events at the Natatorium.

Ryan Vaughn, the mayor's chief of staff, praised the public-private partnership as a feat of creative thinking that will greatly benefit Indianapolis as a whole.

And while that's true, there also will be clear winners and a few losers with this deal.

The nearly 30,000 students who attend Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will get a college that feels more like a real campus than a commuter school — a trend that's already under way as more students opt for nearby apartments and on-campus housing. They also won't have to risk their lives dashing across Michigan or New York streets to get to class.

Near Westside residents will be winners, too. Long looking for a way to become a part of Downtown, as Fountain Square and the Old Northside have in recent years, they will get that with new streetscaping, bike lanes and sidewalks. That side of town will no longer seem so far away from the liveliness of Downtown and campus.

So who loses? Life will get a bit more frustrating for commuters, especially those who take New York into Downtown in the morning and Michigan Street out after work. City officials say they've accounted for that in their plans. But the street changes have the potential to be a daily pain for Westside commuters.

The rest of us will have to deal with two summers of major road construction, starting in 2015. Turning Michigan and New York into two-way streets won't be as simple as dividing them in half and painting yellow lines. We're talking a major revamping of the way cars, bikes and pedestrian traffic flow through campus.

Yet, this deal will be great for Indianapolis.

Why? Consider the momentum that's already building.

The Near Westside, long drowning in poverty, violence and a lack of investment, is edging toward an upswing. It's hard to tell that now along West Michigan Street and others areas of Haughville and Stringtown, where boarded up houses, vacant lots and empty storefronts are common. But a number of commercial development deals are in the works. Among them, plans for BrightFarms Inc. to open a 100,000-square-foot greenhouse to sell fruit and vegetables to Marsh Supermarkets. It opens in 2015.

On the residential side, a growing number of IUPUI students have ventured across the river to rent apartments and houses. Olgen Williams, a longtime Haughville resident and deputy mayor of neighborhoods, sees a lot of potential there.

"We will be able to bring more people to Haughville, to Hawthorne, to Stringtown and to attract businesses because they have better traffic flow," he said.

Opening up the Near Westside will make those neighborhoods more appealing to college students and residential developers — and that is appealing to IUPUI.

Thomas Morrison, vice president for capital projects and facilities, says the university wants to be more of a stakeholder in the Indianapolis community. Having students living on both sides of the river helps accomplish that. It also could help keep more college graduates in the city.

That's because if you build your life in Downtown Indianapolis as a college student and find that you love living in the urban center, as many young professionals do, you might be more willing to stay. It doesn't hurt that several major employers are Downtown.

If all of that weren't enough, we're also getting a refreshed Natatorium, a long-cherished community asset. Built in 1982, the pool is still considered among the fastest in the world. But the roof, the floors and the basic infrastructure are in desperate need of repairs. The facility brings in more than $17 million a year from visitors, and once construction is done, will be in a position to bring in even more.

So, yes, this is a big deal. And although $30 million is a lot of money, big changes to neighborhoods cost big dollars.

This is worth it. Kudos to the city, IUPUI and the Lilly Endowment for making it happen.

Contact Star columnist Erika D. Smith at (317) 444-6424, erika.smith@indystar.com, on Twitter at @erika_d_smith or at www.facebook.com/ErikaDSmith.Journalist.