The Fishers Test Kitchen is very much a construction zone, but that doesn’t bother Jolene Ketzenberger.  The well-known Indiana food journalist has been involved in the concept for a number of years, and watching it come to life brings a wide smile to her face.

When The Yard development was first announced as a largely culinary center, Mayor Scott Fadness said residents had been telling him for some time that Fishers lacked a restaurant culture.  The mayor’s response was to create a large area centered on food – The Yard.

The Fishers Test Kitchen has been a center of The Yard concept from the very beginning of the Thompson-Thrift project.  Chefs will be able to experiment with different concepts as they rotate in & out of three serving areas.  The Test Kitchen will share dining space with the Sun King brewery space in the same building, near the Hyatt Hotel that is also under construction.

The chefs chosen for the Test Kichen will be offering a wide variety of food, based on my talk with Ms. Ketzenberger, as she gave me a tour of the facility.

I had the opportunity to have a short conversation (mini-podcast) with Jolene Ketzenberge when visiting the construction site Tuesday morning. You can find the link to that mini-podcast below the following pictures.

The City of Fishers has entered into a third supplemental agreement with the local Fishers firm RQAW for project management services connected to the State Road 37 reconstruction that broke ground Monday morning.  This new agreement cannot exceed $2.048 million, the same figure contained in the second supplemental agreement between RQAW and the city.  The agreement was approved by the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety Monday.  For more details on this supplemental agreement, use this link.

The board also approved a road cut on Allisonville Road just south of 146th Street, allowing Vectren to bore a gas line main serving the Overlook subdivision.  This will close one lane of traffic for 2 days 9am-3pm.  Traffic will be routed to the right turn lane during construction.

Finally, the board said yes to an agreement with state transportation officials for $1.4 million in federal funding for a roundabout project planned for 106th Street and Hoosier Road.  The feds will provide 90% of the funding, with the city chipping-in 10%.  Construction is expected in December, 2022.

Social media lit up around Central Indiana beginning Saturday evening over a massive traffic jam around Conner Prairie.  The final Symphony on the Prairie concert of the season was last Saturday, and the crowd was far above what anyone connected to the concert expected.

That led to massive traffic congestion between 116th Street and 146th Street on Allisonville Road, and roads leading into that area.

Fishers city spokesperson Ashley Elrod issued the following statement Monday afternoon:

“Saturday’s Symphony on the Prairie attendance was a record crowd that exceeded capacity of the venue. On duty Fishers Police personnel assisted Conner Prairie once traffic conditions deteriorated. The City of Fishers intends to work closely with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Conner Prairie to ensure changes to current processes and procedures to prevent this from occurring again.”

Even Conner Prairie CEO Norman Burns could not reach the concert Saturday night.  Here is his Twitter message posted Sunday:

“Last nights concert at #ConnerPrairie exceeded everyone’s expectations in traffic and attendance. Like many, I was unable to make it into the concert and felt the same frustrations. We aim to work with the city of Fishers and the ISO to make the experience better for the future.”

Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Symphony wants to offer fans a peace offering after the traffic issues with Saturday night’s concert.  The symphony is willing to help you get tickets to any show at the Hilbert Circle Theatre this year (excluding IPL Yuletide Celebration), a 2020 Kroger Symphony on the Prairie concert or come up with another solution that might fit your needs.  For more details, contact the symphony box office at 317-639-4300 any weekday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

I hadn’t been writing my local Fishers news blog long when the three Hamilton County Commissioners entered a conference room to brief local officials about an idea to alleviate the crushing rush hour traffic tie-ups on State Road 37.  The idea was to design the highway much like Keystone Avenue in Carmel….roundabouts for east-west thoroughfares and underpasses for the north-south highway.

Those in the room years ago agreed this needed to be done, but SR 37 is a state road, so state officials would need to be persuaded.  It took years and Hamilton County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt said he had made “thousands of phone calls” and attended “hundreds of meetings” before this project was finally funded and approved at the state level.

Monday morning, many prominent Hamilton County officials were on hand for the ground breaking ceremony at the southwest corner of State Road 37, on the grounds of Lockhart Cadillac.  The only person key to the project not at the ceremony was Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, who was under the weather.

Fishers City Council President Rich Block filled-in for Mayor Fadness, praising the many governments coming together to make this project happen.

“While major road construction isn’t easy on any of us, the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience,” Block said prior to breaking ground.  “At the end of this project, we’ll have a major thoroughfare that allows for safer pedestrian access, enhanced access to business and will alleviate the congestion we see here on nearly a daily basis.”

“We’ll get through this (construction period) and when it’s done, it’ll be a transformational project that will change the whole east side of Hamilton County,” said Heirbrandt.

Fishers City Engineer Jason Taylor tells LarryInFishers that motorists will only deal with lane restrictions in the area of 126th Street and SR 37 for the remainder of 2019.  Sometime in 2020, east-west traffic will be blocked along 126th Street at SR 37.  This part of the construction is scheduled to be complete in winter of 2020, with an east-west roundabout in an overpass at the highway and an underpass in place for north-south traffic.

Here is the remaining construction schedule, per the City of Fishers:

• 146th Street: begin Spring 2020, complete Winter 2021
• 131st and 135th Streets: begin Fall 2020, complete Fall/Winter 2021/22
• 141st Street: begin Spring 2021, complete Fall/Winter 2021/22

The City of Fishers, under an agreement with state officials, will manage the construction.  Roundabouts are to be constructed for east-west traffic on 131st & 141st streets, and traffic signals will be installed on 146th Street overpass.

Part of the money funding this plan will go to a marketing plan named 37Thrives, assisting businesses along the construction area while the work is underway.

“We have been actively participating in the 37Thrives Business Stakeholder Group for the past 14 months, “ said Lindsay Walters, Vice President, Lockhart Cadillac.  “With any large project like this, you face anxiety as a business owner.  The direct connection to information and collaboration through 37Thrives helps us minimize that and pro-actively plan ahead.”

After being out of town most of Labor Day week, it is very good to be back home in Fishers.  While I was away, the biggest story by far centered on ILEARN test scores released by the Indiana Department of Education.  As I reported September 5th, HSE Schools rated highly compared to most schools around the state, but did see a drop in the scores compared to last year’s ISTEP testing.  I had been led to believe HSE Administrators would have some comment on these local scores when publicly released, but apparently there was a change and no comments have been provided.  Perhaps that will happen at this Wednesday’s HSE School Board meeting.

Speaking of the next school board meeting, Superintendent Allen Bourff is scheduled to provide the board an update  on possible plans to build a larger Durbin Elementary at another location in that area.  Let’s see what the latest developments hold on the future of Durbin.

Monday morning this week a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to kickoff reconstruction of the State Road 37 corridor.  The project will begin at 126th Street and SR 37, which is where the groundbreaking is set to happen.  LarryInFishers plans to be there.

Tuesday evening, the Fishers Test Kitchen will announce the first chefs to be chosen for the Yard development, allowing new chefs the chance to experiment in culinary experiments, without opening their own restaurants.  The Yard will begin opening restaurants and other shops toward the end of this year.

There are other items this week that could create some Fishers news.  In the meantime, thanks for reading LarryInFishers.com!

They called it the “Battle of Mudsock” in the late 19th century Indiana town of Fishers Station, where the City of Fishers is located today.  The rough-and-tumble town of that time had a battle that led to what some news reports described as a riot.  One man was dead in the end that led to a murder trial.

All that was recreated Sunday at the historic Ambassador House in Fishers, with a large crowd watching the original production of The Battle of Mudsock & the Trial of Hamp West.

All the funds raised by the two performances went to the local police and fire foundations as well as the Ambassador House.  Relatives of Hamp West traveled all the way from North Carolina to see the production.

Most of the cast members were current police & fire personnel.

This is the second consecutive year the Battle of Mudsock has been produced at the Ambassador House.  A number of people were involved in the production, including Fishers resident Ashton Wolf.

A perfect weather day drew a good crowd for the annual Safety Day at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Fishers Saturday.  There were about 70 booths of all kinds, including some food samples.

The Fishers Fire Department, St. Vincent’s and Ascension Health sponsored this year’s event.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern came just a few yards shy of stunning one of the best teams in the state Friday night.

The Royals were given a tough assignment for their Hoosier Crossroads Conference opener, taking on Avon at TCU Field. The Orioles are ranked No. 1 in the Class 6A Associated Press poll and No. 2 in the IFCA poll. They played like a top-rated team during the first two and a half quarters of the game, eventually leading 35-6 in the middle of the third quarter.

But Southeastern roared back, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half.

The Royals took the game to the very last play, during which they used a lateral
play to get down the field with no more time left on the clock. But Southeastern
was stopped short of the goal line, allowing Avon to escape with a 35-27 win.

“They’re the No. 1 team in the state for a reason,” said HSE coach Adam Morris. “I just think we gifted them too many things in the first half. You have to give them credit. Obviously, they did a good job. But I also thought we made some mistakes that they were able to capitalize on. Second half, we played a little bit better, especially defensively, and that’s why the game ended the way it did.”

The Royals were held to just two field goals in the first half, both by Alex Geroulis. The sophomore kicked a 23-yarder in the first quarter, then converted a 38-
yard kick in the second period.

Avon led 28-6 at halftime, then added another touchdown early in the third quarter. But the Orioles would not score again after that. Southeastern began its run when Tony Myers caught a 24-yard pass with 14 seconds left in the period, then Geroulis made the kick. That got Southeastern within 35-13 as the quarter ended.

The Royals shaved another seven points off the lead with 8:54 left in the fourth. Hobson found DeAndre Rhodes, who took an 18-yard pass into the end zone. Geroulis kicked the extra point again, making the score 35-20.

Southeastern’s Clayton Toner made a big play late in the quarter, when he intercepted a tipped pass and took it to the Avon 30-yard line. The Royals made the most of the opportunity, getting down to the 4, and Hobson lobbed another touchdown pass to Rhodes; it was Rhodes’ second TD reception of the game and Hobson’s third scoring pass.

Southeastern then got the ball back on downs, and flew down the field before it was finally
stopped short of the goal line.

“I think our quarterback and our entire corps of receivers are a group that is definitely underrated and under-appreciated,” said Morris. “They had a great off-season.

Andrew Hobson as a senior stepped in at quarterback and done a great job. They’re
a really talented group and I would put them up with anybody’s.”

Hobson finished the game by completing 19 of 39 passes for 264 yards.

The Royals are 1-2 overall and will travel to Fishers next Friday for the Mudsock game.

by

Crag Adkins

Hamilton County Reporter

NOBLESVILLE – It didn’t take long to figure out how they would take control
of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference opener on the road, but the Fishers Tigers
proved themselves in lopsided 28-7 win at Noblesville on Friday night.

Seventh-ranked Fishers was out to make a statement in the HCC opener and
it wasted very little time in establishing their rushing attack against Noblesville.

The first possession of the game saw Fishers run right through Noblesville’s
defense for eight plays and 56 yards, resulting in senior quarterback Marcus
Roux sneaking it in from one-yard out for an early 7-0 lead.

After forcing the Millers to punt following a quick three and out, the Tigers marched right down the field again. This time it was senior tailback Dylan Scally that punched it in from the one, pushing the advantage to 14-0.

Noblesville’s defense did not have an answer for the Fishers rushing game and it made that quite obvious very early in the first quarter.

“We run what we run. We didn’t do anything real special for them. We just ran our offense and we executed it very well,” said Fishers head coach Rick Wimmer on the Tigers’ steady rushing that was key to victory.

The second quarter also belonged to the Tigers and they showed no letting up. The defense forced another punt that turned into another QB sneak from Roux from the one-yard line to get Fishers comfortable at 21-0.

The Millers just weren’t able to muster anything offensively during the first half. Another punt gave the Tigers another opportunity to score and that’s exactly what they did.

This drive took just five plays and 75 yards of offense. Roux found a wide open Reggie Cook-Graham down the middle for a 33-yard touchdown strike that put the Fishers up now 28-0, leaving Noblesville searching for answers.

Grayden Addison got out his boom stick and sailed a spiral punt that was downed at the four-yard line, netting 76-yards, pinning the Tigers deep.

Fishers was backed up for the first time in the game. On the second play of the drive, Roux tossed an interception right into the hands of Noblesville junior cornerback Blaine McNabb, returning the pick to the Tiger 18.

A couple of penalties on the offensive line put a damper on the slight momentum for the Millers. They were faced with a third and 26 from the 34 of Fishers. Addison was brought in for a 51-yard field goal attempt, but the kick fell just short of the crossbar and Noblesville trailing by four scores at the half.

“We were just trying to find guys. They didn’t do a good job in the first half.
This group is so young, inexperienced,” said Noblesville head coach Justin Roden on his team’s play in the first half.

The second half became a different story on both sides on the ball. Fishers had put the game into cruise control and Noblesville was doing everything that it could to try to get back into the game.

Forced to punt once again, Addison sent another great kick toward midfield. Tiger punt returner Reece Boland called for a fair catch, but mishandled the return right into the hands of Miller senior Kody Leach, giving the football right back to Noblesville.

For the Millers, it was just another night that their offense would struggle to produce.

Noblesville’s special teams shined again, this time punting toward the Fishers goal line. Boland muffed the punt inside his own 10 and junior Zach Blevins recovered the ball in the end zone for the Millers’ lone score at 28-7.

“I just think, physically, in the second half they still were able to run the ball,” Roden continued on Fishers’ rushing game.

“We’re going to bend. I’m OK with bending. We’re trying to do some many things. Fix is not the right word and when you try to do that, you make mistakes. We did a better job of that in the second half,” Roden said on his team not giving up, trying to make things work.

Overall, Fishers showed that it is a solid football team. It doesn’t just come down to what the Tigers did offensively. Their defense showed their true worth by
holding Noblesville’s offense under 100 total yards, as the Millers netted 75 yards.

“I don’t think we can get away from this and not talk about the job of our defense. They were just phenomenal, but for a half our offense was played on the part of our defense. It’s what we have been looking for and it’s the best half of football we’ve played, I think, especially with the running game,” Wimmer said of his defense and in turn how well the offense ran.

Noblesville (0-3, 0-1 HCC) was held to just one first down on the ground and another by penalty. It was a night where the Millers searched for offense and came up empty, limited to just 66 rushing yards and nine passing.

The Millers hit the road west to face HCC rival Westfield (2-1, 1-0 HCC), who won big at Zionsville, 51-24.

Fishers (3-0, 1-0 HCC) dominated all facets with 328 total yards, including 211 rushing. Dylan Scally carried 20 times for 118 yards and a touchdown. Shaun Kim had a great night spelling Scally, rushing 94 yards on 18 rushes. Marcus Roux didn’t need to run much for his two touchdowns in three carries.

The Tigers will host Hamilton Southeastern for the battle of the Mudsock next week. The Royals lost a home game Friday to top-rated Avon, 35-27.

by

Jeff Jellison

Hamilton County Reporter