On the 69th birthday of Seymour’s most famous son, work began on a project that will carry his family’s name.
Construction on Mellencamp Plaza got underway Wednesday morning in the city parking lot at the corner of Second Street and Indianapolis Avenue in downtown Seymour.
City employees from three different departments worked together using jackhammers and track loaders to break up concrete in preparation for the new pocket park. Demolition was expected to wrap up quickly either by the end of the day Wednesday or today.
When the project is completed, the area will be a fenced in green space with tables and chairs and landscaping, allowing visitors to sit under the 35-foot mural of John Mellencamp painted by Pamela Bliss last fall on the eastern side of the This Old Guitar building.
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The project does not include any new trees as they would obstruct the view of the mural, which continues to attract people from all over, said Mayor Matt Nicholson, who inherited the park project from former Mayor Craig Luedeman.
"It’s just a nice little green space to accent the backdrop," Nicholson said.
Later in the day, he stopped by again to check how the crews were coming along and spoke with someone visiting from Iowa who had come to see the mural.
"Still to this day I can walk by here and there will be somebody from somewhere here to snap a picture with the mural," he said.
Funding for the park is coming from a $50,000 donation made late last year by the Mellencamp family, along with donations from local businesses.
A stage was included in the original plans, but was cut to keep the project within budget and because Nicholson said he didn’t want to see anything taken away from the JCB Pavilion at Crossroads Community Park, which is within walking distance of Mellencamp Plaza.
The project would have started earlier this year had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic.
"COVID really set us back," Nicholson said.
Mellencamp’s father, Richard, who lives in Seymour, came out for the groundbreaking.
He said the family was pleased and proud of the mural and wanted to help enhance the area even more to attract more investment and tourism in Seymour. It also is a way for the Mellencamps to leave their mark on the community in a tangible way.
"We think this project is a perfect compliment to Pamela’s mural. It will also help the city and Main Street’s efforts to beautify downtown and make it a destination," Richard said. "This space will give people a place to meet, have lunch and get a photo by the mural. We are excited to see this project come to life."
Nicholson agreed the plaza will be a perfect place for outdoor dining, especially with the addition of several new restaurants downtown.
Including input and getting approval from the Mellencamps, a final design of the plaza by HWC Engineering was agreed on by the city.
"Richard’s been very involved with the design process," Nicholson said.
Most of the work is being done in-house by Seymour Parks and Recreation, Department of Public Works and Water Pollution Control to help lower costs.
Nicholson said he’s proud of the teamwork being demonstrated by city workers.
"It’s great for these guys to come together to work on a project," he said. "A lot of time their work goes unnoticed, but they will be able to drive by this for years and show it to their kids and say ‘Hey, I was a part of that.’"
Construction should be complete in four to six weeks, depending on weather.
"It’s a fairly small project," Nicholson said.
The park is eliminating 11 parking spaces from the Lynn Hotel lot, but Nicholson said some of those are being made up for by adding several designated spaces along Indianapolis Avenue in front of Schwatzer’s German Restaurant and The Tribune office.
"We’ll get back a little over half of what we lost," Nicholson said.