Heart of Jasper's Quarter 3 Recap

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To Our Supporters:

The Fall weather finally arrived and hopefully it is here to stay for awhile! We had fun celebrating our love for the downtown with 250 of our friends at Mingle on Main last week. Thank you to those who joined us.

Here is what we have been up to in Quarter 3:

Economic Vitality Projects:

1.      Façade Grant Program

Through a partnership with the City of Jasper, Heart of Jasper has administered four rounds of the Façade Grant Program which provides financial assistance for exterior building improvements in the Downtown and Riverfront Districts. The goal of the program is to stimulate retail growth and catalyze investments through enhanced aesthetics. Round 4 of the Façade Grant Program focused on new and additional signage for the downtown businesses. Twelve Sign Applications and 2 Façade Grant Applications were received. Many signs have been installed: Finishing Touches, Just Whimsy, Primerica, Downtown Fitness, Wood Capital Pizza, The Next Chapter, Riverside Plaza, Crossroads Title and Escrow. The Façade Projects are in progress with a goal to be completed by December 31^st: Krutz Shoe and REM Bicycle building, Wood Capital Pizza building, and Oink Inc building.

 

2.      New Business Incentive

The New Business Incentive stemmed from a program that began in 2021 called the Genesis 12 Project. Thanks to an anonymous donor, Heart of Jasper is able to offer a New Business Incentive to attract new businesses to the downtown. Since 2021, the Genesis 12 Donor donated $340,000 to small businesses located in the Heart of Jasper!

Congratulations to Card Guys Sports Cards for receiving $10,000 and Rice N Spice for receiving $13,000 in 2024!

 

3.      Public Parking Signs

Thanks to Matrix and German American Bank for allowing their parking lots for public after 5pm on Monday-Friday and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Two signs have been placed at their parking lots informing the visitors of the public parking options.

 

4.      Open House of Vacant Spaces

Dubois Strong is leading this event with a county wide effort to show case the vacant buildings that are available for rent or for sale. The Open House event is October 22 from 3-6pm. The buildings participating in the Heart of Jasper are the River Centre, the space behind Wood Capital Pizza, and the former Plaid and Timber location. All of the vacant spaces will be featured in the resource guide at the networking event following the open house.

 

5.      Heart of Jasper Courtyard

Heart of Jasper is excited to announce a new project that strengthens the ties between the Old Jasper Area, Main Street, and Courthouse Square. The Heart of Jasper Courtyard and Activity Trail is a multi-year effort. The vision is to create a trail lined with activity that will tie the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center to the Downtown Square. Sitting at the center of this trail at 4^th and Main is a City of Jasper parking lot which is where we have identified the location of the Heart of Jasper Courtyard. Many formal approvals and funding still need to happen to make this vision a reality.

 

Design:

1.      Astra Alley #2

The Astra Alleys are now complete! Astra Alley #2 got its final touches in September! We had some help from the City of Jasper Electric Department hanging the Holiballs purchased from Finishing Touches and the lights donated from The Home Depot. Blondebrush used her talent to tie the two alleys together with the colorful walkway. A huge thanks to everyone who made this project possible!

 

2.      Piano Alley (located between Chocolate Bliss and Central Land Title)

Heart of Jasper has a partnership with a team of students from the Luddy School of Engineering at IU. These students are working on sensors that will be installed on the piano keys in the Piano Alley. As you walk through the Piano Alley and step on the sensors, they will play sounds of a piano. This is a year long project for the IU students. Once the sensors are implemented, they will be spend the remaining time maintaining the system before it is handed off to Heart of Jasper.

 

3.      Avenue of Flags

Heart of Jasper partnered with the Downtown Jasper Merchants to participate in the Jasper Optimist Club Avenue of Flags program. Twelve American Flags will be placed around the Courthouse Square during 6 holidays throughout the year.

 

4.      Love Your Community Clean Up

Through a collaborative effort with Green Thumb Landscaping, Jasper Park and Rec and Heart of Jasper volunteers, the downtown flower beds and flower pots will be well maintained! These groups will take care of the maintenance of flowers, mulching as needed, and planting annuals in the Spring. The next clean up day is Tuesday October 29^th to pull weeds, remove annuals, and cut back perennials.

Promotion Committee:

1.      Music on Main

Every Saturday in April-June and October- November from 11am-1pm the Downtown Square is filled with live music by local artists from the surrounding area. Visitor can enjoy live music while shopping and dining downtown.

 

2.      Shop and Sip

On the third Wednesday of the month from May-December, the downtown merchants stay open until 7:00pm to allow shoppers extra time to get to their stores. The square is filled with live music from local artist and the Downtown Jasper Social District is open for those who want to sip and shop! Join us for the upcoming Shop and Sips on the 3^rd Wednesdays of the month.

 

3.      Downtown Chowdown

Ten food trucks filled the Riverwalk Plaza on the 1^st Thursday of the month from April-October. You can get your fill of dinner foods, sweets, specialty drinks and much more! There is live music, kid activities from the Jasper Library, cornhole and ping pong. The Downtown Chowdown is from 4-8pm. The 2025 schedule will be released in a few months!

 

4.      Mingle on Main

Thank you to everyone who attended the event! We sold 250 tickets and couldn’t have asked for better weather. We send a huge thanks to the volunteers who set up, served food and drinks, and cleaned up the event. Oink Inc. Smokehouse prepared a delicious meal, as always. First & Main put on another excellent show. The gift basket were stuffed full with donated items from local businesses around town. Remember to shop local and support them! Save the Date: Mingle on Main Friday October 3rd, 2025!

 

5.      Community Calendars

Monthly community calendars are created in collaboration with downtown partners (Downtown Merchants, Astra, Community Arts, Library, etc) for all downtown events to be found in one place. https://www.heartofjasper.org/calendar/

 

Upcoming Events:

Shop and Sip-3^rd Wednesday of the Month May-December from 5-7pm

        October 16^th, November 20^th, December 18^th

 

Music on Main-Every Saturday in October and November 11am-1pm

 

More details on the events can be found at https://www.heartofjasper.org/calendar/

We would love to hear your feedback, ideas, and/or questions. Please reach out at any time via email at [email protected] or via phone at 812-661-2881. Stay in touch by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and our website at www.heartofjasper.org.

Thank you for allowing the Heart of Jasper team to work with you!

Kate Schwenk