Arts and Culture

Arts & Cultural Heritage

Arts and Cultural Heritage provide an expression of the way of life in a community that is passed on from generation to generation. Types are tangible and intangible and include customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions, and values. Each can be a dynamic and transformative force in a community’s social and economic development.

Project Highlights Below

PROJECT HIGHLIGHT:

City of Auburn

CITY OF AUBURN, IN “HOME OF THE CLASSICS” DOWNTOWN DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT

Sturtz Public Management developed the Auburn Strategic Community Investment Plan with the stated vision for Auburn "to be a thriving place to live, work, and visit, based on a cultural heritage of tradition, innovation, and progress." To realize that vision, a total of nineteen projects were developed that focused on improving historic downtown Auburn, the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum/National Automotive Truck Museum of the United States district, and the southern gateway linking the two segments of the city. As the overall project area contained a significant number of historic resources, their preservation played a key role in the plan development.

One such project discussed in the Plan called for streetscape improvements for the 6th and Main Streets area in downtown Auburn. Individual projects included installing angled on-street parking, vintage-style pedestrian scale streetlights, benches, bike racks, and trash receptacles; planting trees; reconstructing some portions of sidewalk and adding new sidewalk paving combining concrete and colored pavers in others; and paving the intersection of the two streets in patterns of concrete and colored pavers. Sturtz assisted the City of Auburn in writing a successful application for a $500,000 Main Street Revitalization Program (MSRP) grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs to further the 6th and Main Streets project. The community is now three years past the successful completion of the project and seeing a marked increase in the number of businesses, shoppers, and visitors.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHT:

City of Decatur

CITY OF DECATUR’S
“ARTISTICALLY INSPIRED INNOVATION”

In 2014, Sturtz Public Management began work with the City of Decatur, Indiana to establish a stronger presence in their downtown, previously sidelined by highway development that diverted traffic from the area. Sturtz worked with the Greater Decatur committee to establish a Strategic Investment Plan focused on the community’s growing Sculpture Tour program. This plan established an identity of “Artistically Inspired Innovation” in connection to the community’s artistic focus as well as the innovation in manufacturing heritage of the community.

The Decatur Strategic Investment Plan and subsequent Downtown Revitalization Plan
provided Decatur Main Street and the Decatur, Indiana community in general with a planning document to guide decision making and establishing priorities within downtown Decatur. Several of the recommended projects have been completed including creating an outdoor museum streetscape to highlight rotating sculpture, creating the Madison Street Plaza, demolition of blighted structures, façade improvements, creation of The Hive gallery and creative maker space, 2nd Street Lofts artist and entrepreneur housing, and establishment of the St. Mary’s River Nature Preserve. In the summer months, Decatur Main Street sponsors weekly Music on Madison Street events that draw large crowds and generate the activity that the community set out to achieve.