Stellar visit

DUNKIRK — Now, the community waits.
Dunkirk leaders hosted the Indiana Stellar Communities selection committee Thursday afternoon, outlining plans, pointing to progress already made and sharing their enthusiasm.
“We’re very excited to be a finalist,” Mayor Dan Watson told representatives of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Indiana Department of Transportation and Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Watson and Jay County community developer Ami Huffman walked the committee through the high points of Dunkirk’s 70-page Stellar Communities plan then took committee members on a walking tour of downtown Dunkirk so they could see first-hand the areas and buildings that are targeted.
Dunkirk and North Liberty are the two Stellar Communities finalists in the division for communities with a population under 6,000. The winning community is to be named Aug. 17 at the Indiana State Fair.
“We have an exciting story to share,” Watson said.
Dunkirk’s plan seeks:
•More than $5 million in tax credits from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to help Buckeye Community Hope Foundation to develop Crown Crossing, a 28-unit senior housing development that would be constructed on the west side of Main Street just north of the railroad tracks.
•More than $2 million from INDOT for a sidewalk project linking the downtown, schools, the city park and West Jay Community Center and for the installation of decorative lighting in the downtown area.
•More than $1.8 million from OCRA to help renovate the former Stewart Brothers Building as a new home for Dunkirk Public Library and The Glass Museum.
•Support for a number of related projects including the restoration of the interior of the recently restored railroad depot as a senior citizens center, a walking path from the Quincy Place housing development to West Jay Middle School, installation of downtown wireless Internet access, demolition of the current library and museum structure, a mural on the side of the Weaver Building where there is now green space and the creation of a “message in a bottle” attraction for tourists that would tie into Dunkirk’s roots in the glass industry.

“This ‘right-sizes’ the downtown and also moves residents to the downtown,” said Huffman, noting how the various aspects of the plan link together.
Working with Dunkirk Industrial Development Corporation, the city already has control of all of the properties that would be involved.
A key selling point, Watson and Huffman noted, is that Dunkirk has already stepped up to tackle its downtown’s challenges.
“Our downtown was dying,” said Watson. But the Dunkirk Investment Group stepped in to acquire and renovate downtown buildings one at a time.
“We saw a need to do something,” said local auto dealer Rock Fuqua, one of the original members of the group. “We’ve been putting our energy and our money in going on eight years now. … It’s something we’ve been very passionate about.”
Chuck Huffman, also one of the original members of the group, added, “What we have to offer is a can-do attitude.”
After a question-and-answer session, the committee was taken by trolley from West Jay Community Center to the spot where the senior housing development would be constructed then walked south to the Nichols Building, a project restored by the Dunkirk Investment Group, then to the Todd Building, another DIG project. The group then examined the Stewart Building, which has been stabilized and given a new roof as a result of a joint city and county project, and went on to tour the library and glass museum in order to get an understanding of the space limitations of the current building. The group then walked back north to Webster Depot Park for a reception.
“I’ve been dying for this opportunity,” Watson told the committee. Citing the involvement of private investors, county government, economic development officials and others, he added, “Our partnerships are just vast.”