Mayor Chris Martin is ready to carry 2022’s momentum into the new year.
And there was plenty of momentum in Logansport. One only needs to visit any of the new businesses or admire the works of public art to see that the town is heading in the right direction.
“When I took office I was 28 years old and Logansport, up until that point, had been pretty stagnant,” Martin said. “There was not a lot of movement. We took office and we’ve seen a lot more movement, a lot more opportunity for the community to grow.”
Martin recalled the Logansport of his childhood, dim parks and not much for children to do. Bringing life back to those parks and giving everyone something to enjoy in town has been a major goal for him.
It’s hard to argue with his accomplishments in that area.
As Robert Norup, Jr., a recent newcomer to Logansport, said as he waited in line for Culver’s to open: “It’s a great little town. Move to Logansport while you can before it gets too big.”
A growing downtown
One of the achievements Martin was most excited about in 2022 was the growth of downtown Logansport. He was quick to point out that it was a group effort.
“I am so proud of downtown,” he said. “We talk about downtown growing and its awesome these entrepreneurs came in 2020 and 2021 and took these historic buildings and restored them. Now they are expanding them. They are adding to the second levels and growing downtown even more. That is the most amazing thing we could ask for.”
There were over 10 new businesses that opened in 2022, many choosing the downtown district as their home. Most of those businesses are locally owned.
The mayor said rebuilding downtown is a balancing act and he hopes to see a mixture of activities and shops for all age groups.
A vibrant downtown plays a huge roll for drawing younger people to a community, he said. But adults also need a space for relaxing evenings and a night out.
“You’ve got your ages where the younger kids want to go hang out at the skating rink and then you have the older generation and my generation who would like to go out on a Saturday night or a Friday night — they want to have a relaxing evening,” he said. “They want to have a glass of wine or a nice cold beverage and listen to a live band. That’s the atmosphere we have here in downtown.”
“There’s life in downtown again,” Martin said.
A whole Logansport
One of the challenges Martin has faced during his time in office is spreading the wealth in Logansport. Businesses are quick to select one area over another due to traffic flow.
“When I came into office one of the things we focused on was not just one area,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that the North Side, the South Side, the East, West and the downtown, all of it—made sure we focused on every area.”
The mayor said he hoped residents understand the administration pushed for growth on the North Side and West Side of Logansport.
“The problem is that a lot of these folks like Culvers’ or Scooter’s or Wendy’s, they want to go to the East Side,” he said. “So we as an administration and a government entity want to push them toward the West Side or a side of Logansport where we don’t have a lot of eating or shopping options. But a lot of them just typically want to go to the East Side.”
Those businesses want to be where the people are at the moment that is on the East Side, he explained. Martin said developers will reach out to him or the economic development director and ask where in Logansport they might fit in.
“Typically, if they are a restaurant, we’ll say we really need some restaurants at this end of town,” he said. “That’s ultimately where we start. But we have developers who will come in who have already seen Logansport. They’ve visited Logansport and they say ‘actually we want to be on the East End, we want to be on Market Street. We want to be where the traffic is.’”
Martin said he supports growth across Logansport and does not favor one area over the other. Still, he is amazed by what he is seeing both on the East Side and downtown, especially given the unique ways both areas have grown, with corporate entities building up the East End of the town and local businesses making the downtown area their own.
“It’s amazing to me that we can grow at two different ends of the community with two different types of businesses,” he said.
A place to call home
But how do you draw in young people and families if there is no place to live?
It’s a point many vying to challenge Martin for the role of mayor have made.
Martin is well aware of the problem and says he is working on it. The Lexington Village project moved ahead in November and will add 52 new homes behind Walmart east of Yorktown Road. But that is still far into the future.
“One of the things we have seen is that there is not only an issue with housing for regular citizens, we also have Tyson who is having issues with workforce housing,” the mayor said. “Tyson has employees who are living in Peru, who have to travel from Peru, Ft. Wayne, all over just to come work here in Logansport. We understand that struggle. What we want to do it partner with Tyson and create that workforce housing.”
Martin said housing options will be coming to the old farmers market lot and there have been discussions for both the South side and North side of town. Logansport has also started the process of purchasing property around Chase and Davis Road for homes.
A dream for Martin is to develop the area surrounding Ivy Tech Logansport to include housing and natural pathways for residents to enjoy.
“We don’t need that.”
There have been complaints around the community that many of Martin’s goals are not needed.
Martin pointed to Homes 2 Suites by Hilton as an example. The hotel was something he wasn’t even sure Logansport needed at the time.
“But then you think about it,” he said. “When we are living here we don’t think we need a hotel. We don’t visit our own city.”
However there are people traveling into Logansport for high school sports. Logansport High School hosted a basketball regional in 2022 that brought people in from all around the state.
Martin called the Berry Bowl and the Logansport Community School Corporation football field topnotch facilities in Indiana.
“Those are items that this community has that attract a lot of people,” he said. “And then of course the Carousel. Believe it or not that attracts people. Now our downtown is growing. That’s going to attract people. We do need that hotel. Of course there are going to be people who may not fully understand but that’s ok. It’s just explaining and really trying to get people to understand.”
People are already coming to Logansport to visit local shops. Plant Therapy reported customers from Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis and even Florida. The Lantern had visitors from as far as Pittsburgh and Boston. Spooky Grandma’s Halloween Shop ended 2022 with a customer who was also from Florida.
Heading into 2023
Logansport residents have a lot to look forward to as 2023 begins.
Harbor Freight is set to open at The Junction this winter season. Wendy’s grows closer to opening each day.
More announcements about The Junction will be made soon, assured owner Joe DiCosola.
“I’m thinking in 2023 that (The Junction) will be filled,” said Martin. “I really do. I honestly think that by the fall of 2023 The Junction will be full.”
Ultimately, it comes down to area traffic for new national businesses to arrive in Logansport.
“That’s another thing I try to explain to people,” he said. “I would love to have a TJ Maxx. I would love to have a trampoline park. I would love to have these kinds of things. But a lot of these developers and corporations, they want to see a high traffic count. And we just don’t have that yet.”
But Logansport is getting there, Martin said.
“The whole Junction growing the way that it is will increase that traffic count I think to the point where we are going to be able to start getting those larger corporate things that we want to see in our community, especially for our children.”
