I-69 (Exit 19) Exit 19 is gateway to historic town

By Barrett Newkirk, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

October 21, 2008 12:06 am

— PENDLETON — Many motorists whizzing past Interstate 69’s Exit 19 likely dismiss the interchange as yet another concentration of chain stores along the road to Indianapolis, Michigan and points beyond.
But it takes looking past the familiar logos for McDonald’s and Burger King to find the hidden story of this developing exit.
Pendleton, a historic community centered about a mile from the highway, sits at the rim of urban development creeping northeast from Hamilton County. Exit 19 is the town’s connection to interstate travel, and while the town expands, land around the exit is filling with more businesses, homes and community sites. And there’s still plenty of vacant land left to claim.
“There’s all kinds of possibilities down in that corridor,” said Rob Sparks, executive director of the Madison County Corporation for Economic Development.
For one family-run business, Exit 19 offered an alternate location when downtown Pendleton became too crowded.
Last February, Downing’s Old Trail Bar and Grill moved into a former Dairy Queen site near the exit.
Paul Downing, a manager at the restaurant his parents own, said traffic congestion and parking was becoming an increasing concern, so after 55 years in the heart of Pendleton, the business moved west.
The relocation has helped the restaurant gain drive-by business, Downing said.
Simple roadside signs promising lunch specials until 3 p.m. often attract travelers wanting something other than fast food, he said, and he expects business to increase as the area continues to grow.
“You see everything is building up from Fishers, so eventually everything is going to build up to Anderson,” Downing said.
But whatever development opportunities are proposed, the town of Pendleton is making sure it suits it needs and doesn’t cheapen any image it has as a comfortable, historic town.
“We’re going to be very careful about what we bring in to the community,” Town Council President Don Henderson said. “We have some very high-end development to the west, so we want to be sure that it’s not impacted adversely.”
The town is offering tax incentives to the first developer to bring a hotel to Exit 19, but for now there are no definite plans.
A proposal for a family resort center with restaurants, a hotel and entertainment spots, recently went before the council, but Henderson said he was waiting for more specifics.
“I haven’t heard enough about it to really sit down and judge it,” he said.
A similar resort-style development was proposed for the same location northeast of Exit 19 about 10 years ago, Henderson said. It allegedly had the backing of the Disney Company, but Henderson thinks a developer pushed the project without any major funding source and so the highly anticipated project eventually died.
“This was going to be a wonderful addition to the town, and we were going to have Mickey Mouse ears on the water tower,” Henderson said.
But Pendleton has attracted what he called “good corporate partners” like Atlas Cold Storage, Tractor Supply Company and South Madison Community Schools.
The school corporation moved into a building vacated by a racing company in 2005.
“Our office is here just by good fortune,” said Superintendent Thomas Warmke. “It was a bargain that we couldn’t turn down.”
The corporation paid less than $1.9 million for a 10-acre site that includes an office building and bus garage, Warmke said.
Administrators had previously worked out of the middle school, and Warmke said being slightly separated from the school buildings had not caused any problems.
Plus, he said it’s nice to be part of such a dynamic development area.
“The more business that comes in to this business area here means more assessed evaluation, and we think that’s a good thing,” Warmke said.


Properties located at Exit 19 include the following:
Atlas Cold Storage, Burger King, Downing’s Old Trail Bar and Grill, Fall Creek Play School, Madison Masonic Lodge 44, McDonald’s, Pendleton Place Apartments, Pine Lakes fishing and camping site, Remy International, Ricker’s, South Madison School Corporation administrative offices, St. Vincent Health, Subway, Tractor Supply Distribution Center.

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