Knox community members, county and city officials, and business and organization leaders gathered Wednesday afternoon for a discussion session at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center for the purposes of assembling a comprehensive plan for the City of Knox.
Officials with Green3 led those in attendance on a networking exercise to discuss assets of the community, concerns of the community and what to envision in the city in five years.
The group agreed that assets include the Starke County Courthouse, Starke County Rail Park – Knox, SCILL Center, the depot which houses the Starke County Tourism and Chamber of Commerce offices, Knox schools, Starke County Youth Club, IU Health Starke Hospital, Henry F. Schricker Public Library, Henry F. Schricker Museum, Starke County Historical Society, Community Services of Starke County, Starke County Soccer League and the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center.
Other items of focus were the downtown facades, the structures on U.S. 35 and the need for transportation services.
Infrastructure needs are at the forefront of the comprehensive plan as water and wastewater equipment and facilities need to be working efficiently to accommodate business, industry and residents.
The next step in this process will be to research and to develop a draft of a preliminary plan.
