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Step 1
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The Letter of Intent
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Princeton’s First Attempt
“…We didn’t have control….and a couple of our plans were more future in nature.”
Princeton made two attempts in applying for Stellar. The city’s initial attempt took place in 2010 when the Stellar program was launched. At that time, Mayor Hurst submitted a letter of intent to the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. At the point of its initial application and letter of intent, Princeton’s revitalization efforts were well underway. First, Princeton completed a series of planning efforts. For instance, Princeton completed a series of planning efforts including a Comprehensive plan (2009), a downtown revitalization plan (2010), a parks and recreation plan (2011), and a housing strategic needs assessment (2012). Second, before the Stellar program was launched, the also city completed a series of major improvements within its downtown district. Princeton implemented a number of public and private investments with new pocket parks, sidewalks, and historic building renovations in its downtown corridor including the completion of roadway and utility improvements. With all of these steps in alignment, Princeton felt that it had a good chance of the award when the notification of the new Stellar program was announced. To work towards implementation a Stellar Project Team was established to implement the city’s strategic community investment plan of downtown revitalization and housing improvements. The team included individuals from the Mayor’s Office and key city stakeholders, such as the Umbrella Committee, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, and OnSite Occupational Health and Safety. The team also included engineering and architectural consulting firms of Hannum, Wagle, and Cline (HWC), ARCHitecture Ratio, and Browning Day Mullins Dierford Architecture, as well as a local grant administrator. After weeks of review by the state’s program selection committee, Princeton was chosen as a 2011 Stellar Finalist, however they did not make the final selection as one of the two Stellar communities during the programs first round of funding. The representatives from the three state agencies identified two primary factors in their decision to decline the city’s application. One principal factor identified by the state agencies was Princeton’s futuristic nature of its projects. The state agencies noted Princeton’s projects did not appear to be “shovel ready.” A second dynamic identified by the state selection team was Princeton’s lack of site control. For example, the local school corporation owned a property which they were not going to be utilizing, but at that point of the application, Princeton had not acquired the property for redevelopment. “We had a timeline when we knew the school was going to be out and we had a letter stating that the school would be open to discussions from the school corporation and school board, and the director of the school board. So that was a gap. Another gap that we had in our application was that a couple of our projects in the application we really did not have control over at that point in time. Since this is a very short-term process, three years, you really have to be ready to go on a project. And be ready to move forward.” Princeton's Second Attempt
“…We looked at what we needed to sure up…”
The following year, Princeton officials took certain steps to improve their application and the city’s chances in receiving Stellar designation. Immediately after the first attempt, Princeton’s mayor and Stellar team held meeting to reflect on areas that needed improvement. “Since we were not selected for the first round of Stellar we conducted reflection meetings for probably the first three months. We looked at what we needed to sure up. Where were the gaps we need to close to either give us a better chance of success for either the Stellar or future opportunities that might arise in other grants or proposals?” The Princeton Stellar planning team decided to take measures to ensure that they were ready with a more complete application and letter of intent the second time around.
In February 2012, Mayor Hurst submitted the city’s letter of intent as its second attempt at applying for Stellar. The second letter and application addressed the gaps which Princeton’s previous 2010 application failed to fill. After a several weeks of review by the state selection team, the mayor received a phone call in late February from former Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman’s office announcing Princeton as a finalist. As a finalists Princeton was awarded $10,000 planning grant to assist in preparing an in-depth Strategic Community Investment Plan proposal, and to help in planning the site visit with the state selection team. Each finalist had approximately five to six weeks to develop this plan. |
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Step 2
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The Strategic Community Investment Plan
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The Princeton Stellar target area boundary included its downtown area and surrounding residential neighborhoods. To address issues and opportunities rural decline, Princeton’s stakeholders established several community development initiatives as part of its Stellar Strategic Community Investment Plan based on elements identified in its previous planning efforts.
Princeton’s plan included revitalizing the downtown business district, senior housing facility, downtown streetscape and gateway enhancements, downtown façade improvements and trails, a theater and community center, and downtown plaza.
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Step 3
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The Site Visit
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Once Princeton completed its Strategic Community Investment Plan, the state selection team came out for a site visit in April of that same year. The site visit consisted of various components put together by Princeton’s Stellar planning team.
Princeton Site Visit Itinerary: Introductions of city partners and stakeholders. The Princeton Stellar Planning Team was introduced multiple community stakeholders and volunteers at its site visit to illustrate their ability to foster local, private, and regional partnerships as well as local support for the ISCP initiative. Visual presentations of the need and potential projects. The Princeton Stellar Planning Team also developed a video showcasing their need, projects, and partnerships. In addition, there were storyboards around the room describing each project. |
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Tours of projects sites and areas of impact. The Princeton Stellar Planning Team took the sstate representatives on a tour of the project sites, including a walk-through of the Princeton Theater. The tour included designated speakers who highlighted various aspects about the projects.
Question and Answer Session. The visit ended with a question and answer session among the Delphi Stellar Planning Team and the state selection committee representatives. Overall, the site visit lasted approximately three hours. |
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Step 4
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The Announcement
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On Wednesday May 9, 2012, out of 40 applicants for 2012, and 7 finalists, Princeton along with Delphi was named one of two “Stellar Communities” by Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman.
The Princeton Stellar Planning team was ecstatic to be awarded the Stellar designation and instantly began working on the planning and implementation of its projects. |
