News Release

WARSAW – Main Street Warsaw and Designing Local, a national leader in urban planning and design, arts and cultural district planning have been engaging stakeholders and conducting research since the planning process was launched in April and have now completed the Downtown Warsaw Cultural Arts District plan.

There will be a short presentation of the plan at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Kosciusko Chamber offices, located at 523 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw. This presentation will be followed by a public open house from 4-6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

This planning process was identified as a strategic priority in the Downtown Warsaw 2030 Strategic Plan, which was released by Main Street Warsaw in February.

“One of the key strategies of the 2030 plan is to make downtown Warsaw an art-focused, vibrant destination that has a strong and growing creative economy and will be the community’s living room and gathering space where we celebrate our history, culture and past accomplishments and nurture our creative and entrepreneurial spirit, artistic passions and makers. This planning process will help us further define a vision, priorities and action plan that will guide future arts and placemaking investments in downtown,” said Main Street Warsaw Downtown Development Director Terry Sweeney.

“The vision is that downtown Warsaw’s cultural arts district will become a premier destination where a culturally rich and diverse arts scene serves as an economic engine attracting investment, retaining top talent, and enriching the quality of life for the entire community.  We hope that the plan also allows us to successfully compete for Northeast Indiana Redevelopment Authority’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) dollars and other funding sources to implement the plan,” said Suzie Light, Main Street Board of Directors.

Light also helped lead the process and is a Warsaw Public Art Commission member and Leadership Partner for Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation.