Martinsville, Indiana

MART INSV I LLE INDI ANA ocated in South Central Indiana, the city of Martinsville is located between Indianapolis and Bloomington, and is in what Gary Oakes, Director of Planning and Engineering describes as “the pretty part of the state”, with rolling hills, ponds, lakes, and trees dotting the landscape. Once known as the “City of Mineral Water”, the rural community was famous for its mineral water sanitariums, drawing many prominent people to the area between 1888 and 1968, to relax and rejuvenate in the healing baths. Today, Martinsville is a community of close to 12,000, on the brink of expansion and open to possibility. A project to bring Interstate Highway 69 to the edge of the city has been in the plans for decades and is finally coming to fruition, bringing new opportunities to the community. Oakes recounts, “It was started almost three years ago now, but planning goes clear back to the 1980s. Everybody has known this was coming for a long time. It is finally here, and although there are many issues to be addressed with that, there are also lots of possibilities. Notably, because of the interstate now being completed, we recognize that the city of Martinsville is a community where the quality of life is very good because of our geography, and the access to amenities.” Another major undertaking for the City of Martinsville is a project to address ongoing floodplain issues. “The city of Martinsville is actually in a bowl,” says Oakes. Stormwater is another issue that we address as we do our planning. As part of this effort, FEMA is revising the flood map of the city, which Oakes admits can be frustrating for residents. “We have people who thought they were not L