WCDC Recounts An Active Year

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Dan Spalding, Times-Union Staff Writer-

Warsaw Community Development Corp. celebrated its 17 years in existence Tuesday with an annual dinner at Mosaique Restaurant, in which everything from the logo to the dinner to the organization's scope seemed new and improved.

Even the dinner seemed revitalized compared to past years.

"Tonight was a shock to my system," said a complimentary Indiana Secretary of State Sue Anne Gilroy, the main speaker, whose visits across Indiana usually entail something closer to rubber chicken rather than the chicken cordon bleu prepared by the restaurant's chefs.

A summary of the organization's efforts in 1997 and plans for 1998 appeared quite palatable, too.

"It's alive, it's well, it's growing and in the black," said Kurt Carlson, WCDC's board president.

In 1997, the WCDC entered the low-income housing sector by purchasing a house on High Street. The WCDC will renovate it with a $200,000 grant from the Indiana Housing Finance Authority and additional money from the Kosciusko County Foundation.

The organization also completed an expansion and renovation of the Biblical Gardens and secured commitments of $200,000 from banks for its revolving loan program for downtown merchants.

Improvements to several homes on Jefferson Street were also made with the help of a Ball State architecture student and the Indiana Main Street program.

The WCDC is in the midst of transferring ownership of the old Sprint building on Center Street to a private developer.

The agency also developed a new logo with the slogan, "Working to have a light in every window."

Several awards were presented. Those included:

• Community Development Awards to Jim Brennan, for his work in organizing Downtown Days, and Bill DeGaetano, owner of Dig's Diner, for his fund-raiser for Combined Community Services.

• John Shively along with Bob and Pam Beam were given Main Street Design Awards for their downtown renovations.

• Lake City Bank, Brennan's Pharmacy, Courthouse Coffee and Rex's Rendezvous were commended for facade work.

• VSP-TV was recognized with the Entrepreneur Award. [[In-content Ad]]

Warsaw Community Development Corp. celebrated its 17 years in existence Tuesday with an annual dinner at Mosaique Restaurant, in which everything from the logo to the dinner to the organization's scope seemed new and improved.

Even the dinner seemed revitalized compared to past years.

"Tonight was a shock to my system," said a complimentary Indiana Secretary of State Sue Anne Gilroy, the main speaker, whose visits across Indiana usually entail something closer to rubber chicken rather than the chicken cordon bleu prepared by the restaurant's chefs.

A summary of the organization's efforts in 1997 and plans for 1998 appeared quite palatable, too.

"It's alive, it's well, it's growing and in the black," said Kurt Carlson, WCDC's board president.

In 1997, the WCDC entered the low-income housing sector by purchasing a house on High Street. The WCDC will renovate it with a $200,000 grant from the Indiana Housing Finance Authority and additional money from the Kosciusko County Foundation.

The organization also completed an expansion and renovation of the Biblical Gardens and secured commitments of $200,000 from banks for its revolving loan program for downtown merchants.

Improvements to several homes on Jefferson Street were also made with the help of a Ball State architecture student and the Indiana Main Street program.

The WCDC is in the midst of transferring ownership of the old Sprint building on Center Street to a private developer.

The agency also developed a new logo with the slogan, "Working to have a light in every window."

Several awards were presented. Those included:

• Community Development Awards to Jim Brennan, for his work in organizing Downtown Days, and Bill DeGaetano, owner of Dig's Diner, for his fund-raiser for Combined Community Services.

• John Shively along with Bob and Pam Beam were given Main Street Design Awards for their downtown renovations.

• Lake City Bank, Brennan's Pharmacy, Courthouse Coffee and Rex's Rendezvous were commended for facade work.

• VSP-TV was recognized with the Entrepreneur Award. [[In-content Ad]]

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