UPCOMING EVENTS
On the morning of Wednesday, September 23rd, Batesville Main Street launched a crowdfunding campaign to help fund two outdoor gathering spaces for our downtown district.
The first, Inspiration Park, located in the area we currently refer to as The Bike Park, will be in commemoration of this year’s 100th anniversary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and will honor five women who have been significant contributors to the Batesville Community. This space will also feature a public art component, an illuminated 3D metal sculpture.
The women selected were key drivers who envisioned, started and shaped community centered non-profits that continue to serve the Batesville community today. Each of them has a story of resilience and tenacity that is inspiring, and their impact on our community has been immeasurable.
As we selected these women as inaugural honorees, it was with much thought and the acknowledgement that this is not an exhaustive list; more honorees will surely follow. In fact, Batesville is fortunate to be a community that is home or has been home to many other illustrious and deserving women, each making their indelible mark on our town. This space will be for all women who strive to create solutions and serve others. Our greatest hope is that it will also serve to inspire the next generation of visionaries.
Our 2020 inaugural honorees are:
Margaret Hillenbrand and Mary Mitchell, visionaries and chief benefactors of Margaret Mary Health, which now provides healthcare to a population of more than 65,000 in Ripley, Franklin and surrounding counties.
Jane Yorn, founder of Safe Passage. (14,000 women and children to date have been delivered to safety from situations of extreme domestic violence).
Jolene Rockwood, founder of the Batesville Area Arts Council (more than $1,000,000 and counting has gone into Arts in Education programming in our six local schools since 1988!)
Roberta Cook, at a time of economic downturn, coordinated the transformation of an abandoned storefront into a thriving gathering space and community hub, Amack’s Well Coffee House.
The second gathering space, Collaboration Corner, will be on George Street, in front of Amack’s Well. Its name is a nod to Batesville’s entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit. We began pre-enacting an outdoor seating area in this spot with a pop-up park in 2017, which was very well received by the community.
These two new spaces will be ADA compliant outdoor seating areas that serve all in the downtown district. Our George Street business owners have been extremely supportive of our efforts to create positive change in our downtown, and we are pleased to offer those businesses and their patrons safe outdoor seating options. These spaces will be not only functional, but also improve the aesthetics of our downtown.
Our goal is to raise $50,000 in funds from the Batesville community to help bring these projects to fruition.
Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority's Placemaking Indiana initiative will provide up to $50,000 in matching funds to support this initiative, but ONLY if we reach our goal. Community support is integral to the success of our campaign! Together we can do so much!
Patronicity is the platform that is used for accepting donations. Community members can donate online or by mailing a check to:
Batesville Main Street
PO Box 260
Batesville, IN 47006
Online link:
https://www.patronicity.com/project/building_community_and_celebrating_remarkable_women#!/
This is a tremendous opportunity to enhance our downtown with beautiful and safe outdoor spaces where people can gather. Batesville Main Street has been working on this project since May (since 2017 if you count the pre-enactment of the pop-up park outside of Amack’s) and we’ve already coordinated and raised 2/3 of the funding for this project. Now, with the help of the community, we can make it happen.
Our campaign will run only until November 1st. Please show your support by donating, sharing on social media and personally inviting your friends and neighbors to donate, as well. Projects like these are the essence of what a Main Street group can do to promote economic vitality and ensure a vibrant downtown…but only with community support!
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