10 INDIANAPOLIS REGIONAL CENTER PLAN 2020 PLANNING DOWNTOWN�fS FUTURE TODAY PLANNING PROCESS the wellfields at the mouth of Fall Creek while, at the same time, taking into account security concerns over the public drinking water supply.   Overall, this vision sees the Stadium Drive area transformed into a 24-hour activity area, where people live, work and play. Vision 2: Midtown Ransom Place By the late 1800s, the near-west side of Downtown, centered around Indiana Avenue, had become a center of African-American business and culture.  One prominent business was the Madame C.J. Walker Beauty Supply Company, founded by the first American female millionaire, for whom the current Madame Walker Theatre Center is named.  The Ransom Place neighborhood, part of the general Midtown area, was an early prominent African-American neighborhood, and the vernacular construction is today recognized as a historic conservation district.  The area is also home to Crispus Attucks Middle School and Museum, named after a runaway slave who died fighting the British in American Revolution. This vision builds on the important African- American heritage of the Indiana Avenue area.  For the historic residential areas, infill housing is proposed, with single-family and two-family homes filling in gaps along residential streets and high-density rowhouses and senior courtyard apartments lining busier streets.  A new neighborhood-oriented commercial center is proposed near the intersection of 10^th and 11^th streets.  This Ransom Village Center contains many shops and services oriented to the surrounding neighborhoods and employment areas, including a grocery store, pharmacy and restaurants.  A new YMCA facility is an important part of this new center, while a Walker Arts District is developed along Indiana Avenue.  This new district, focused around the historic Madame Walker Theatre Center, includes new commercial development, an Indiana Black Expo Heritage Center and Museum and a new IUPUI theater. Vision 3: Methodist Near North The Near North area, including Methodist Hospital, is truly a mixed-use area.  Single-family homes, large apartment buildings, major health care facilities, commercial and light industrial uses are all in very close proximity to one another.  The People Mover also strengthens the relationship between the Near North area and the IUPUI campus, while the Interstate system will continue to make the area a hub of vehicular traffic This vision looks at opportunities for infi development, adaptive reuse and complete redevelopment of portions of the Near North area.  A focal point for activity is at the north end of the historic Central Canal, where a new Clarian Health (the owners of the land) facility is placed with a hotel and conference facility.  The Canal is extended north of the Interstate and forms the backbone for a completely new mixed- use and biotechnology center.  The Clarian People Mover, currently connecting Methodist Hospital with Indiana University Medical Center and Riley Hospital, is expanded to form a loop, thereby expanding the market and usefulness of the system.  In neighborhoods to the east of Methodist, infill housing is envisioned, along with some apartment buildings along major streets and at intersections.  Most streets are landscaped and have streetscape improvements to help make the area a more attractive place to live, work and visit.  This is especially true for I-65, one of Downtown's major gateways.  This vision also shows redevelopment of the Stadium Drive area, which becomes a mixed-use and bio- tech district as well. Vision 4: Historic Central Canal This vision looks at the historic Central Canal area and proposes infill development to eliminate surface parking lots and vacant land to knit the district into the rest of Downtown.  The presence of the Canal is built upon by proposing better pedestrian access, increased frontage through canal spurs, and green pedestrian links between the Canal and the American Legion Mall.  Most development is proposed as mixed- use development, consisting of apartments, parks, offices, retail shops, restaurants parking.  Better pedestrian links between blocks combined with streetscape elements on most streets help to make the entire area a much more walkable, pedestrian-friendly area.  And the Core of Downtown is expanded to include the southern part of the study area.  In this area larger buildings provide additional office space, retail shops, hotel rooms, entertainment facilities and apartments or condominiums. COMMITTEE PROCESS Past Regional Center Plans (RCP) have used a traditional approach to planning where committees examined individual topics such as education, infrastructure, office development or housing.  In an effort to encourage a more comprehensive view of Downtown, the RCP 2020 used a "people-use" approach.  This approach grouped numerous topics into committees organized around how people use Downtown.   They use Downtown to live, to work, to enjoy and to learn.  The Moving Around Committee looked at how people, goods and services and utilities move around and are delivered, while the Placemaking Committee examined the built and natural environment of Downtown.  These six "people-use" committees were each led by two co-chairs who also served on a larger Steering Committee which provided guidance on overall plan development. Committee membership consisted of over 350 active participants.  Membership on all "people- use" committees was open to all and included a representative cross-section of Downtown stakeholders.  The Steering Committee was made up of all "people-use" committee co-chairs and additional Downtown stakeholders.  See the credits section at the end of this report for a complete list of committee participants. Committees followed a simple decision-making process by first identifying strengths weaknesses, by then gathering information through presentations and research and finally by developing goals, objectives and projects and programs.  The material developed by each committee was assembled into a committee report.  This material served as a primary source of input into the development of this final plan document. Regional Center Plan Kick-Off