I moved to Fishers in May, 1991, after marrying my wife Jane.  She had built a house in Sunblest.  The 1990 census counted just over 7,500 people living in the Town of Fishers.

I do not pretend to be an expert on “old Fishers,” but a lot of it was still in place in 1991.

After the economic meltdown of 2008-2009, the Town of Fishers began to move forward with development plans.  I retired from my civil service job in late 2011 and started writing this blog in January, 2012.  I could sense then that the town council, along with a young, aggressive Town Manager named Scott Fadness, would be working to develop the town, which was seeing major population growth at that time.

The growth spurred a lot of talk among those living in Fishers for many years, before the major increase in population.  They expressed their view Fishers had lost its small-town feel and it was their view this was a bad thing.

I asked Scott Fadness, once Fishers became a city and he was elected mayor, how he responded to the assertion that Fishers was losing the small-town atmosphere.  His response was clear…a city is either moving forward or backward.  He had, and today has, no intention of moving backward.

Scott Fadness has been aggressive in developing the City of Fishers in general, and in particular the downtown Nickel Plate District.  Fishers has a population estimated to be just under 105,000 at this time.  Those of us living in the 1991 version of Fishers could never have imagined that.

Nearly two years ago, the Fishers City Council approved incentives and a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan for land owner Mike Alboher and developer Tony Birkla.  They told the Council in August of 2022 the $35 million project would be constructed just south of the Fishers Municipal Complex, across 116th Street.  It would be mixed use, with commercial and residential space.

This development would feature a first for Fishers…..condominium units projected to sell for as much as $1 million.  It would face the new City Hall/Arts Center and have a prime location next to the Nickel Plate Trail.

However, at the July 31st meeting of the Fishers Redevelopment Commission , the city’s Economic Development Director Megan Baumgartner told commission members the project announced in August, 2022, will not be moving forward.  The city is working with land owner Mike Alboher to keep the city’s options open to develop that location.  It is clearly a valuable piece of land and ripe for development similar to the mixed-use structure announced in 2022.

The city wants everyone to know that there are still efforts to put together a “transformational” mixed-use development at that location, working with land owner Alboher.

Mayor Fadness has been aggressive in promoting developments such as the one proposed on 116th Street in August of 2022.  No doubt, another plan will surface in the future on the piece of land.  Not every plan comes to fruition as originally announced.

Fishers is moving forward, with residential, commercial and job creating development.  This is not the old Fishers.  Some of the long-time residents may see this as a bad thing.  However, people are voting with their actions….the population of Fishers continues to grow.

This may be the longest list of road construction activity for the 2024 summer season.  Pay particular attention to the State Road 37 northbound lane restrictions coming up.  Also, along 141st Street, east of State Road 37, be on the lookout for construction closures in the Prairie Lakes area

Here is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

Continue reading Long list on this week’s Fishers-area road construction update →

Patrick Mapes has been the Superintendent of Schools for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) District about 5 months and is preparing for his first start of the school year at HSE August 7th.

Mr. Mapes talks about preparing for the school year, changes in state law impacting schools, proposed changes in high school diploma standards, the ULP filed by the local teachers’ union and much more in this podcast, linked below.

HAND Inc. is a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in Noblesville, aimed to addressing housing needs for low and moderate income people.  HAND held an open house for its first project in Fishers, Cumberland Cottages, on Cumberland Road at 141st Street Thursday morning.

Cumberland Cottages has 11 units.  HAND Executive Director Andrea Davis says some potential renters are going through the vetting process, but there are currently 30 people on the waiting list to become tenants.

You can find more details about Cumberland Cottages in a story I posted on this blog May 28th.

Davis says the first residents of the development should be moving-in by later this month or early September.

There are two major sporting events each year in Fishers, the football and basketball contests between Fishers and HSE High Schools.  They are each called the Mudsock Game.

Mudsock is a term that goes back to the origins of Fishers in the 19th century when it was a swampy area and people here had plenty of mud on their socks.

The new Fishers Events Center announces that the Girls and Boys basketball games in 2024 will be played in the new venue, expected to open in November this year.  The date is Friday, December 20th, with the girls contest tipping off at 6pm, the boys at 8pm.

Since the Mudsock basketball game has been played mostly in the high school gymnasiums, tickets have been hard to get.  The Events Center will seat up to 7,500 fans.

Here is the ticket information:

• Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, August 9 at 10 a.m. at FishersEventCenter.com.
• General Admission $10 | Reserved Loge and Premium Club $20 | Reserved Courtside $25
• 8 ticket limit per purchase
• Children 5 years and under are free with an accompanying adult ticket

“The rivalry between Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern is the highlight of the sports season,” said Fishers High School Athletic Director Jim Brown. “Every year, the highly anticipated matchup draws a large crowd, creating a vibrant and competitive atmosphere at the venue. Bringing Fishers and Southeastern basketball to the new Fishers Event Center is generating excitement throughout the community. The facility promises an enhanced game-day experience for players and fans alike, with top-notch amenities and a larger seating capacity. This move is seen as a significant step forward for both schools, fostering greater local support and elevating the high profile of the Mudsock rivalry.”

“We could not be more excited to partner with the City of Fishers to host Mudsock Basketball at the new Fishers Event Center,” said Hamilton Southeastern Athletic Director Jim Self.  “A Friday night, prime time girls and boys basketball double header between the Royals and the Tigers right before the holiday season in a facility that can accommodate over 7,000 fans is going to be awesome. What a tremendous opportunity for our athletes, coaches, fans, and the Fishers community.”

“The Mudsock Rivalry Game is a legendary addition to the opening series of events we’ll host in the first month of opening Fishers Event Center,” said Fishers Event Center General Manager Mitch List. “We are excited to be the new home court for this widely anticipated tradition. This is just the beginning of many unforgettable events to come.”

In August, 2022, the City of Fishers, property owner Mike Alboher and Birkla Investment Group announced a $35 million project that would include a 5-story commercial, office and condominium building at 8603 116th Street, just south of the Municipal Complex.  The condos were projected to sell for as much as $1 million.

The Fishers Redevelopment Commission unanimously approved a lease-purchase agreement on that property Wednesday, preserving the spot for future development.

According to Fishers Economic Development Director Megan Baumgartner, Alboher and the developer say this project is “not the right path for a variety of different reasons,” with the two parties deciding to go in separate directions.  According to Baumgartner,   Alboher did not want to start over with this process.  He asked the city to release the property.

The arrangement approved by the Redevelopment Commission Wednesday calls for the city to pay Alboher, the property owner, $300,000 per year as a lease payment that will be applied to the total principle amount of $7.25 million, for up to a three-year period.  At the end of the three years, the city has a commitment to purchase the property.

During the three-year period, the city has the right to terminate the lease with a $4 million payment, which would also be applied to the $7.25 million principle amount.  Baumgartner told the commission the goal is not for the city to own the property, but to allow time to work with Alboher and have the “right development” for that land.

Bottom line, the project announced in August of 2022 is no longer in place and the city is trying to hold the property open for a future development in line with the mayor’s vision for that area of downtown Fishers.

City officials also say property owner Mike Alboher continues to work with Fishers on developing this property in a “transformational” way as a mixed-use development.

(Note:  This story was updated at 7:30pm 7/31/2024 to include comments from the city that work continues with the property owner to develop the land as a mixed use development.)

I recall in late May of 2023 covering the opening of Fishers Fire Station 397, in the northeast part of the city.  The building included a “baby box,” allowing a mother to place a child 30 days old or less, under the Indiana Safe Haven Law.  The law says parents will face no penalties when presenting an infant at a facility such as a fire station.

The Fishers Fire Department posted a Facebook update Monday saying a baby meeting the Safe Haven statute provision was presented to the “baby box” at Fire Station 397.

“Upon receiving the surrendered infant, our firefighters from Station 397 acted swiftly and provided the necessary medical attention and care,” according to the Fire Department social media post . “The baby is now under the watchful care of Children and Family Services, ensuring the highest standards of health and safety.”

Fishers Fire officials thanked the parents who “surrendered this newborn and entrusted the Fishers Fire & Emergency Services firefighters to help in your time of need. Your baby is safe and healthy.”

For more information on Safe Haven Bby Boxes, use this link.

The Indiana General Assembly has tasked the State Board of Education (SBOE) with proposing new high school diploma standards by the end of 2024.  The SBOE has scheduled a meeting on July 30 to further discuss the graduation requirements.

State Representative Victoria Garcia Wilburn organized a meeting Monday evening at the Hamilton East Library in downtown Fishers to take questions on the issue.  She says her office has been inundated with questions and comments about the proposed new high school diploma requirements.  Representative Wilburn said at the outset this is not a political event, but one aimed at answering the public’s questions.  The public had plenty of questions.

Hamilton Southeastern School Board member Sarah Donsbach,  along with local attorney and education lobbyist Joel Hand, were part of the panel for the event.  Those in attendance wrote down questions and Hand did his best to combine questions in order to fit it all into the one-hour time limit.

The proposed changes would create GPS & GPS+ diplomas, while eliminating the Academic Honors diploma.  The plan would allow students to receive training in the work force.

The new diplomas would reduce the science requirement for graduation and eliminate classes such as Geometry and Algebra II.  Health, foreign languages and economics would be removed as requirements for the new diplomas.

Wilburn read a statement provided by Purdue University, saying the GPS and GPS+ diplomas would not be sufficient to be admitted to that institution.  Indiana University has made similar statements.

Most of the questions submitted by the public centered on how the new proposed rules would work and the impact on parents, students, teachers and counselors.

One question asked the panel what data was utilized to establish these standards.  Wilburn replied that most of the citations provided by SBOE were to Web sites.  Requests submitted by Wilburn’s staff on citations have so far not resulted in answers.

The large turnout for this discussion exemplifies the interest the public has in the new high school dipliomas.

I talked with Hamilton Southeastern Schools Deputy Superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley June 12, and he expressed his concerns about the SBOE proposal on diploma requirements.  Read his comments at this link.

With the Andretti Racing Team constructing its new headquarters in Fishers in a corner of Metropolitan Airport, near 96th Street, the Indianapolis Star is reporting another racing team, Prema, is poised to occupy a spot near the Andretti complex here in Fishers.

Nathan Brown, IndyCar reporter for the Star, reports Prema is set to compete in the IndyCar series starting next year.

You may need a subscription to the Star in order to access this story, but it is available at this link.  

It’s always good to see Fishers receiving attention in Indianapolis media outlets.  On July 21, the IndyStar published a piece on how many Hamilton County cities, such as Fishers, will soon run out of land to expand.  Now, Daniel Bradley of the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) has done a deep dive into how the population of Fishers will expand due to annexation.

The area Fishers is eyeing is located in the southeast corner of Hamilton County, near the Hancock and Madison County lines, adjacent to the Town of McCordsville.

Bradley’s piece says the current population of Fishers, estimated at about 105,000, could increase to a total of 107,000 to 1009,000.  Indiana’s third-largest city by population is Evansville at 115,000.  Fishers could be poised to overtake Evansville in the not-too-distant future as the state’s third-largest city.  Indy is the state’s largest city, followed by Fort Wayne.

What about opposition from the neighborhoods about to be annexed by Fishers?  Enough homeowners are bound by remonstrance waivers that it is unlikely any opposition would be successful.

Fortville would like to annex that same area, but that would require crossing county lines.  The legal complications for Fortville to make that move across county lines makes it an unlikely probability.  Many people living in that area have Fortville mailing addresses and some thought they were already living in the Town of Fortville, although they are not.

There is plenty more detail in Daniel Bradley’s well-written piece.  You can access the IBJ story at this link, but you may need a subscription to access the piece online.  The Star story is available at this link but also may require a subscription.