West Gate @ Crane Technology Park vision takes shape

March 21, 2006

Press Release

CRANE (Indiana) – Dirt is moving and heavy equipment is lifting pipe in preparation for the first buildings at the West Gate @ Crane Technology Park. Scalable broadband resources are now in place and wastewater treatment utilities will shortly be in the ground to support the West Gate's first buildings. “Events continue to progress rapidly for new construction and our first tenants,” said Ron Arnold, executive director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation.

Smithville Digital, located in Ellettsville, invested more than $100,000 to bring its Indiana Digital Gateway into the park and to the $2 billion NSWC military technical facility, according to Cullen McCarty, president. “A full complement of high speed scalable resources now exists for West Gate tenants and the military base,” said McCarty. “The region is now capable of supporting data transport, ERPs and digital imaging across a broad 10 Gigabits of connectivity.”

The former rural area is presently being transformed by the construction of new wastewater treatment capacity, providing utility services for up to 1,500 employees in an expected combination of offices, manufacturing and lab facilities, and warehousing, according to J.D. Haines, a principal with Civil and Environmental Consultants (CEC) in Indianapolis. Haines, who was one of the original organizers of the West Gate, said that the sewer phase of the project will be completed by the end of June.

CEC directed the wastewater project, which was awarded in an open bid to Manley Excavating by the Martin County Commissioners. The $167,000 project is being funded from the remainder of a previous grant used by CEC to clear 30 acres of decaying buildings from county property.

Tenant prospect interest in the West Gate park has prompted officials to conduct a formal land use study, as the West Gate is ultimately expected to include about 1,000 acres of buildings and developed property. CONTEXT, a landscape architectural firm located in Fortville, has been retained by The MEK Group to provide initial plans for 250 acres of the park.

“The opportunity to help develop a vision for what is going to be an outstanding facility is energizing and exciting,” said Craig Glazier, a principal with CONTEXT.

The MEK Group is directing a comprehensive planning project for the West Gate, funded by the Indiana Rural Development Corporation.

Organization details and interim partial funding of the West Gate park were secured in an agreement with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) in late 2005. The facility, which is Indiana's only tri-county technology park, will be governed by an Interlocal agreement that has created the West Gate @ Crane Authority. Representatives of the three counties have been appointed by county commissioners in Daviess, Greene and Martin counties, and economic development directors from the three counties will also serve on the Authority.

Source: West Gate @ Crane Technology Park