HUNTINGBURG — The company that will construct workforce housing at Washington and Fifth streets in Huntingburg has had a lot of experience with constructing apartment complexes.

Paragus Inc. of Indianapolis, has constructed more than 40 apartment complexes, office buildings, homes and retail properties in its 29 years of operation.

But it has never constructed in this part of Indiana.

Midwestern Engineers, Inc. has received a Merit Award for Engineering Excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Indiana.
The award was made in recognition of the 4th Street Water Main Cured-In-Place Pipe Rehabilitation Project in the City of Huntingburg Indiana. The project revitalized a more than 120-year-old cast iron water main in downtown Huntingburg, providing the infrastructure core for future downtown development projects associated with the Indiana Stellar Communities Program. Engineers Richard Burch and John Wetzel led the project for the firm.

Huntingburg and Wabash have been named Indiana's 2014 Stellar Communities. Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann made the announcement this morning at the Indiana State Fair.

The Stellar Communities Committee was in Huntingburg Wednesday to tour the city and to hear the plans for the Stellar grant money.

Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann named six Indiana communities Wednesday as finalists for the 2014 Stellar Communities Program, and Huntingburg was on the list.

Hopes are high in Huntingburg as the city goes for the Stellar Communities designation this year.

The City of Huntingburg is currently looking to install a new railroad overpass, new crosstown trailways and new housing downtown. With their recent application for the designation, they're hoping to fast-track these projects.