The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Terre Haute has worn its share of labels.
Some of the more dubious stuck like Super Glue, even after they ceased to be relevant. A bad rep makes it hard for a city to draw new employers and new residents. For example, it took Terre Haute a lot longer to shed its “Sin City” nickname — rooted in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s — than it did for the town to actually clean up the vice that led to that sorry title.
Conversely, a good reputation can open doors. Terre Haute has earned a new label that should validate the city’s status as a community that values vibrancy, progress and education.
Last week, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce named Terre Haute its 2010 Community of the Year. The official presentation will unfold Nov. 9 at the Indiana Chamber’s 21st annual awards dinner at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indy. Former NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw will be there as guest speaker. More than 1,200 business and civic leaders from across the state will attend, too. The transformation of Terre Haute will no longer be a secret.
The changes here apparently caught the attention of the Indiana Chamber’s selection committee for Community of the Year. In announcing the honor, the statewide business organization cited Terre Haute’s downtown revitalization, including the two new hotels — the Hilton Garden Inn/Terre Haute House (which opened in 2007) and the Candlewood Suites (which opened in 2008) — the Saturday morning Farmers Market, and the soon-to-open Terre Haute Children’s Science and Technology Museum. The Chamber also mentioned the Riverscape project, aimed at turning 7,000 acres along the Wabash River into a scenic destination for tourism, business and recreation; the $185-million Union Hospital expansion; and the growing campuses of Indiana State University, Rose-Hulman, St. Mary-of-the-Woods and Ivy Tech.
The future possibilities, considering just those attributes, dispel outdated views of Terre Haute.
For example, downtown is on the brink of blooming into a full-blown college town district. This semester, ISU just welcomed the largest incoming surge of new students in its history. The influx is apparent. Young people can be seen every evening, walking through the downtown, looking for places to go and things to do. A Community of the Year will be primed to pursue retail boutiques, food and leisure outlets that cater to the university crowd.
This distinction gives the city some extra street cred in the competitive world of economic development, and Terre Haute should capitalize.
“It is a stage in our transformation from what was once described as a model of stagnation into a community that is truly a level above,” said Rod Henry, president of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.
Henry also emphasized the honor “is certainly not the beginning, and definitely not the end.” The progressive efforts that created Terre Haute’s Community of the Year selection must continue. The push to construct new downtown hotels, the Children’s Museum and the Union Hospital expansion — along with many other significant ventures — has taken years and required thick-skinned visionaries, hard work and community support. Those projects have helped erase those old, derogatory labels, and have yielded a positive, new, well-deserved moniker — 2010 Community of the Year.
