Who’s Working To Improve Martinsville, Indiana?

I live outside of Martinsville, Indiana and have for over 10 years. For most of this time, I commuted outside Morgan County to work either to Bloomington or Indianapolis. I still go out of town often but find myself caring more about the Martinsville community more and more. One major reason has to do with my kids. They are 10 and 7 and growing up much faster than I could have imagined.

I’m really concerned about Martinsville. If you visit, go downtown to the square (no, not Wal-Mart). If you go during the work day, it looks packed. Keep in mind most of the cars parked along the square work at the courthouse or legal offices in the area. After 5pm and on weekends, it’s a different story. I’ve seen more businesses than I care to count open shop around the square only to close a short time later. Kind of sad.

Who’s working on improving the Martinsville community? Sadly, I’m not sure. Martinsville has a chamber, a downtown merchants association, a city council, a mayor. The county has an economic development organization (based in Mooresville). As a business owner, I’ve paid attention to these groups. But time after time, it’s business as usual. And the usual is NOT helping this community.

I’m treasurer for the Morgan County Recreational Alliance (MCRA). About a year ago, MCRA had a full head of steam. We had access to 30+ acres just a couple miles from the square that we were planning to convert into walking trails, youth football fields, and youth soccer fields. Surprisingly, Martinsville has no dedicate youth soccer facilities. The youth football situation is not much better; they use the West Middle School football field for games. This field is also used by both the East and West middle schools. But MCRA’s efforts have stalled. State road 39 is scheduled to be redone and rerouted. Looks like the new 39 will pass right through the 30+ acres.

I wonder if other communities have the same struggles. I assume many do. But then I read about the Monroe County Trail project receiving $595 thousand in Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Transportation Enhancement funds and about the city of Westfield receiving $1,096,667 transportation grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

And I wonder why my community isn’t working on these types of opportunities.