Charlestown, Indiana Announces City Square Improvement Project

Charlestown's City Square prepares for a lively transformation after its Redevelopment Commission obtains a vacant 20-year-old building at the centre of Short Street in the Jennings Plaza downtown. 

The Jennings Plaza, utilized for community events, pop-up markets, festivals, and local gatherings, presents an ideal space for this new improvement project. The 20-year-old building will be demolished in February, as the renewal project will proceed in several stages. The first phase, "The Commons," will involve installing outdoor venue features, such as the event lawn and stage. 

Treva Hodges, the Mayor of Charlestown, reflects on the City Square Improvement Project: "Over the decades the city square has evolved and changed appearance several times. Businesses have come and gone and some have been in place for many years ... as I looked out my office window every day, I realized it was time for us to take action and do something special with that space." 

Informed by community feedback, Mayor Hodges shares encouraging remarks about the design of the improvement project: "Listening to what our community needs are and where we have our festivals ... we always have to roll in a temporary stage for that little corner for our big Community Days event and some of our other music in the parks event and things like that ... from a quality of life perspective and events perspective, we wanted to use a majority of the space for that. But we have a lot of people who are asking for downtown opportunities, for new restaurants and shops and things like that, so we want to reserve about one-third of the space for that." 

Although the following phases will depend on funding, Charlestown's Redevelopment Commission hopes to see the first phase begin later this year and completed by September 2026.