Kokomo city officials and representatives from Henke Development Group, the developer of Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, broke ground at the site of Championship Park, an estimated $86 million investment on the city’s east side near US 31. The project will develop 16 out lots on land directly east of the current Darrough Chapel Park. The development includes new business, office, retail and restaurant space along with new hotels.

In addition to the private commercial development, an estimated $11.4 million development by the City of Kokomo will create eight new multi-purpose fields – four high school-sized and four youth league-sized for both baseball and softball. The artificial turf fields will be arranged in two quadplex diamond-shaped setups with concessions and other amenities in the middle. Parts of the proposed site will remain intact including the Howard County Veteran’s Memorial, located near the entrance of the park.

Mayor Tyler Moore is planning a series of events to open a dialogue with Kokomo residents, including “Meet the Mayor.” The first “Meet the Mayor” event of 2020 is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11 at the Kokomo Senior Center, 721 W. Superior Street, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Mayor Moore and city department heads will be available to address concerns and answer questions from Kokomo residents.

“I am looking forward to connecting with residents at this event,” said Moore. “It is important that we build a strong connection between city officials and citizens. Communication is the best way and a public event like this is a great first step.”

Future “Meet the Mayor” events will be held at locations around Kokomo. These quarterly forums will provide residents with a current status of the city as well as information about construction projects and new developments happening around the city.

Kokomo residents are invited to attend and encouraged to express their concerns and suggestions for improving our community.

To keep up to date on future events, follow Mayor Moore on Twitter (@MayorofKokomo) and the City of Kokomo (@CityofKokomo) or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CityofKokomo/

At the 2019 National Brownfields Training Conference held in December, the City of Kokomo was recognized for its contributions to brownfield redevelopment. A brownfield is a former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination.

As part of the pre-conference programming, Indiana Brownfields Program staff participated in the U.S. EPA Region 5 States Open House at which one brownfield project in each of the Region’s six states received an award recognizing outstanding contributions to brownfield redevelopment through a nomination process.

The City of Kokomo was honored with an award for investment in its downtown revitalization project. The revitalization projects include a new hotel and conference center, Silver Birch of Kokomo, Trailside Townhomes, and 306 Riverfront District Apartments, among others.

“It is nice that our efforts here in Kokomo are being recognized by the EPA,” said Mayor Tyler Moore. “The previous administration worked hard to use the Brownfield grants to their full advantage. Our goal is to continue that success as we move forward developing our city.”

Kokomo is among those select communities that successfully secured brownfield grant funds directly from U.S. EPA via the annual, nationally competitive grant process.

For more information about Brownfields Click Here