By Wade Coggeshall
CNHI
DANVILLE — Surveys recently conducted by the Indiana University Center for Urban Policy and the Environment indicate that about 12 percent of visits to the downtown here are attributable to the county judicial center.
That may not seem like much, but the surveys also showed a strong link between the courthouse and people visiting professional services on the square, of which there are many. That could spell trouble for the downtown if the county ultimately moves the judicial center to the former fairgrounds east of town.
"It's very common to have that linked visit between the courthouse and a professional service provider," said Drew Klacik, who oversaw the surveys with Jamie Palmer. Both are senior policy analysts with the IU Center for Urban Policy and the Environment. The results were discussed during a recent public meeting at town hall.
The Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership and the Downtown Danville Partnership contracted with the center last March to conduct the study. Klacik, who also was a principal planner in Indianapolis' economic development division, said the objective was to try to determine the courthouse's importance to the downtown's economic vitality.
"In some ways the courthouse could potentially function the same way an anchor store in a shopping mall would," he said. "Its job is to develop and attract traffic and generate business (downtown)."
A study done in Wisconsin compared similar size cities with and without courthouses.
"What they generally found is that places with courthouses had more and a greater variety of businesses," Klacik said.
Three surveys were conducted here: an online survey of county government workers, visitors to downtown Danville government facilities, and with downtown businesses.
Government employees were asked how often they dined and shopped downtown, how much they spend, and how their behavior might change if the judicial center moves. Of the nearly 60 percent of courthouse workers who responded, fewer said they would eat downtown if the courthouse moves. About $55,200 in annual dining expenditures and $20,400 in shopping would be at risk.
Among the 254 courthouse visitors who consented to the survey, a little more than 18 percent also dine while downtown and about 10 percent shop. Calculating their average expenditures, Klacik and Palmer estimate $84,600 would be at risk annually for shopping and another $66,300 in dining if the judicial center were to leave the square.
But it's the fear of a mass exodus of lawyers and other professional service providers if the judicial center leaves downtown that most concerns Town Council President Jeff Martin.
"It's not about how many Goober Burgers they sell at the Mayberry Cafe," Martin said. "It's about the best use of thousands of square feet of downtown office space. If that courthouse leaves, those lawyers are going to leave."
He said there's plenty of land near the old fairgrounds where a new office park could be built to entice professional service providers to move from downtown.
"These guys aren't going to stay in these expensive old buildings downtown," Martin said. "What's going to take their place? What's going to be profitable enough to maintain and restore those historic buildings? Consignment shops that have been in business for three months?"
While Martin remembers a strong presence of merchants on the square 30 years ago, "The last 30 years it's been attorneys, and that sort of business is the mainstay of downtown Danville now. A lot of people talk about expensive boutiques and fancy restaurants. It would be wonderful if they were there, but I don't think it's a realistic expectation."
But Carla Huntsman, owner of Carla's Creations & Gifts on the southside of the square, isn't that concerned about the judicial center potentially moving. Any business she gets from courthouse activity is minimal.
"I look at it as bringing us up to date and moving forward," she said. "I see it as an opportunity for increased activity on the square. Should the courthouse move, something viable could still be represented there and still be county owned and operated."
Cinda Kelley-Hutchings, executive director of the Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership, said these surveys aren't the end of the process, but the beginning.
"This information provides us the data to plan what we'll be doing in the future," she said. "We'll work on the type of new businesses we look to bring downtown for the amenities we're seeking for one of our most important base companies."
wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com
