WARSAW — A plan to transform the 100 block of North Buffalo Street into a festival street is one of three projects that could soon be part of a large grant application being sought by city leaders.

An open house late Wednesday afternoon showcased three designs for the festival street, which would raise the street elevation and eliminate curbs on both sides of Buffalo Street across from the Kosciusko County Courthouse.

Such a design would create a large pedestrian-friendly area that would accommodate additional outdoor seating and a space for large festivals.

All three options would reduce the amount of parking by a handful of spaces, but that did not result in concern by affected businesses, in part, because of separate plans by the city and county to construct a nearby parking garage.

The designs presented by Anderson Bohlander were very similar but varied in the way on-street parking was included.

One design included a performance stage on the southeast corner of the courthouse square.

One idea would incorporate gates at the end of the block that can be lowered to close off the street for festivals.

The designs also included street lighting options, additional trees and banners.

Nate Callithen, who lives in downtown and is a member of Ride Walk Kosciusko County, was one of about 15 people to attend the 5 p.m. meeting after Main Street Warsaw hosted several sessions earlier in the day with stakeholders.

"I really like the idea of a festival street. Pedestrianizing downtown is really important to drive the growth of downtown, not just from a liveliness, cultural perspective, but economically," Callithen said.

He said he thinks it will spur more development and lead to more foot traffic.

"I think it's a good first step," he said.

The open house was the latest in a series of events used to gauge community input.

Proposals for the cultural arts district were unveiled last fall, and the festival street is viewed as the most popular, said Main Street Warsaw's Downtown Development Director Terry Sweeney.

Sweeney said they’re working to quickly submit a state grant request in hopes of tapping into some of the $65 million made available through the state's READI 2.0 program, which is supported with money from Lilly Endowment for arts and cultural development.

Plans for a park with interactive artwork were also unveiled Wednesday and would be near the east-west railroad tracks on South Buffalo Street, but some people at the open house questioned the location and the need.

The application could also include plans for a multi-use art space in the old First Christian Church across the street from the county Justice Building, which is owned by the county and is in need of significant repairs.

Sweeney said if they are awarded grant money for the festival street, it would be combined with money from the city, the private sector, and philanthropic sources.

The presentation did not include cost estimates.

The deadline for the grant application is April 15.

The money would not require a matching grant and is open to all communities across the state, Sweeney said.

Officials hope to find out this summer if they will receive funding.

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WARSAW — Kosciusko County has reached an agreement on the sale of property needed for the proposed city-county parking garage in Warsaw.

County Attorney Ed Ormsby brought the issue to the commissioners on Tuesday for a deal with Snapping Turtle LLC, in which the county would acquire the parcel near North Buffalo Street and the American Legion Post 49 for $475,000.

The agreement concludes a process that began with the filing of eminent domain by the county.

The commissioners unanimously approved of the plan but did not discuss what happens next or their thoughts on the issue.

Ormsby pointed out that the agreed upon price is less than the appraised price of $553,000.

The city and county can now move forward with a final decision on working together to cover the cost of constructing a parking garage.

Just a week ago, several key supporters of the downtown spoke in support of adding the parking garage which is expected to improve parking accommodations for county employees and motorists vising the downtown.

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WARSAW — The city of Warsaw is moving quickly on one of the proposals pitched last month as officials work to establish a cultural arts district in the downtown.

On Monday — less than three weeks after the entire plan was unveiled — the city redevelopment commission approved plans to hire a firm to study the idea of establishing a festival street, which would transform part of a downtown road into a flat surface that can more easily accommodate festivals.

The redevelopment commission agreed to spend $30,000 for the study with Anderson Bohlander to look further at the concept.

The plan was pitched by Terry Sweeney, Main Street Warsaw's downtown development director, who also recapped four new programs that were launched in 2025.

Officials are currently eyeing part of North Buffalo Street as a potential location for the festival street, and the study will likely look at where it might be best to make the transformation.

Some officials have said North Detroit Street seems optimal for the project since it is near Center Lake and a proposed city-county parking garage.

The idea of a street festival is one of the biggest proposals that make up an expansive plan to add more artwork and amenities aimed at attracting more people to the downtown.

Main Street Warsaw has been studying the idea of a cultural arts district, which was fueled in part by a new Hyatt Palma Study, commissioned during former mayor Joe Thallemer's term in office.

No kind of cost estimate has been released because it's very preliminary, but officials admit it is an ambitious plan that would be costly.

Jeremy Skinner, the city's community and economic development director, talked about the vision Monday afternoon.

"Yes, there's a lot of money that would have to be found, but we can't find the money until we know what we're looking for. There's a lot of groundwork that needs to be done," Skinner said. "It's gonna take time, and it's not gonna happen overnight."

"We got a pretty good start here and a lot of good things that came out of the plan," Skinner added.

You can see the entire conversation from Monday's meeting with Sweeney's presentation at the 18:00 mark.

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WARSAW — It looks like the city of Warsaw has a potential buyer for the Marsh building on South Buffalo Street.

Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner asked the city's Redevelopment Commission on Monday for permission to work with a group that wants to possibly convert the building into what was described as an antique artisan mall.

Skinner told officials they want to prepare an agreement that would allow the group, Warsaw Antique Mall, to look into the idea more carefully.

"The purchase price would be $1 million and we would enter into a five-year financing agreement," Skinner said.

The property has been vacant since 2017 and the city purchased it in 2023 after Cardinal Services acquired the land and then decided against using it for expansion plans.

The city paid $1.25 million to buy the property.

In a separate update, Skinner also told the redevelopment commission that the city is working with a developer who has a plan to revive the old Buffalo Street mixed-use development near Center Lake.

The original proposal was pitched about a half dozen years ago but never came to fruition bcause the developer, Dave Matthews, walked away from it (and a related plan to build various condos and homes) with little or no communications with the city.

The land is close to Center Lake where the old parks office once stood.

The development would entail 60,000 to 75,0000 square feet that would include 60-80 apartments and 4,000 to 6,000 square feet of commercial retail space.

He said the project cost would be around $15 million to $20 million.

Skinner said other nearby properties could be part of the project.

"We own a few. Matthews owns a few," Skinner. "We still need to untangle ourselves from Matthews and the rest of those properties."

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