Westfield Mayor Scott Willis said there will be a lot of notable changes in the city in 2025. But much of that work will likely go unseen.
The City of Westfield enters 2025 with more than $40 million of projects ready to move ahead, plus additional road work anticipated to begin when the weather warms up.
The largest road project is reconstruction of Ind. 32 through downtown, set to add travel lanes in both directions between Westfield Boulevard/Poplar Street and East Street, including the addition of a roundabout at East Street and Ind. 32. The city and INDOT entered a cost-sharing agreement for the $22 million project in 2018, with the city controlling design while the state’s share covers land acquisition, utility relocation costs and construction.
Willis said the city remains focused on downtown revitalization.
“In the first quarter we still have between a quarter to a half a billion dollars of announced investments coming to the downtown area,” Willis said. “Once those projects are announced and hopefully approved by the council, we will have phase one of our downtown revitalization plan completed certainly way ahead of schedule. I thought it would take my first four years in office to focus on that and we’re going to have it wrapped up within a few months of my second year.”
Park and Poplar — a planned unit mixed-use development for residential, retail and a public plaza on Park Street along the Midland Trace Trail — is expected to break ground in 2025.
“It’s hard to picture, but when it’s done, it’s going to be amazing,” he said. “It’s going to be an amazing corridor tied into the Midland Trace Trail right across from the library. It’s just going to be a really neat gathering area for our community. It’s exactly what we want in that area. “
Willis said the result will be something for everyone, not just downtown.
“When we do the revitalization projects downtown it’s going to create gathering places, amenities shops, restaurants, all the things right now that in my opinion we lack in Westfield other than on Ind. 32 and near Grand Park, where there are a lot of fast-food restaurants,” Willis said. “We don’t have a lot of places where you can do family-style dining or have gathering places for an evening to entertain your family. We’re really focused right now on that component of the ‘live, work, play’ concept of our city and that Park Street corridor is really where that’s going to be built.”
Willis said the city will work on Grand Park expansion projects, including a parking garage, retail, residential, office space and additional sports-related projects, including the potential to add an ice rink and outdoor stadium.
An underlying question for residents: Where are those tax dollars going?
“Infrastructure,” Willis said. “We dedicate a lot of money from our budget to help improve the roads. In our community, I think that’s something that everybody benefits from. Is it in your backyard? Maybe, maybe not. But when you look at all the projects we’ve got going on, roads (and infrastructure) are important. I don’t know how you live in Westfield and not get impacted by some of these projects that are going to happen next year. That’s something tangible.”
Willis also answered critics who question if Westfield’s growth will mirror cities like Camel and Fishers a little too closely.
“We’ve got to be true to our roots, but we also have to look at the long-term health of Westfield,” Willis said. “Our downtown is a great example of that. When you compare downtown Westfield to the other three cities in Hamilton County, we’re the only city that’s actually seen a decrease in population. Our downtown is dying — we have got to change that trajectory because it’s not a healthy one for a city, long term. (We’re) not going to be Carmel exactly, but here’s the benefit of adding the same kind of amenities that these other Hamilton County cities have already added.”
Willis said the comprehensive planning process, expected to move to the public engagement phase in 2025, will help create a vision for growth in Westfield. The plan will include a vision for the entire township. Willis said he envisions a time — though not in the immediate future — when Westfield will consume all of Westfield Washington Township. He said the comprehensive plan will help the city steer into that growth, instead of being ill equipped for it.
As far as his top goal for 2025, Willis said he is focused on growth.
“Continuing to focus on business development and diversifying our tax base and bringing in more commercial investments into our community. That’s always number one on my mind,” he said. “We announced over a billion dollars of investments in my first 11 months in office. My hope is I can do that again in 2025. That’s a tough number to hit once, let alone back-to-back years. But I think we’re well on our way. We’ve got a pipeline right now in the first quarter that’s probably half a million dollars. So, I feel really good about where we’re at and that is going to be number one on my priority.”
Willis said the city is on the right track.
“I know how blessed we are to live in this city,” Willis said. “It’s truly an amazing place to live and raise your families.”
WESTFIELD’S SAFETY UPGRADES
As Westfield grows, the city has made investments in emergency services, including additional police and fire facilities.
A public safety building to replace the current police station will be constructed in Wheeler Landing just south of Grand Park. A construction timeline for that facility has not been announced.
For the fire department, Station 84 on 191st Street just east of Grand Park is expected to break ground in 2025. The city has budgeted $7.5 million for two new fire stations, with Station 85 expected in the next two to three years.
“We’re increasing the fire department by 25 percent in head count, and that really just comes with the new fire station that we’re building,” Mayor Scott Willis said. “Seconds matter. They really do in that world, and we need people, we need a lot of this growth that we’re going to see in the next 12 to 24 months is on the north side of the city up north of Grand Park.”