Hope is a quiet little town, in South Central Indiana. It is located in the
middle of a triangle between Columbus, Shelbyville, and Greensburg.
Hope is 10 minutes from the Columbus Airport where you can land a helicopter, a
DC-9 or a B-737.
We have an excellent Volunteer Fire Department combined with an Ambulance
Service which is manned by qualified volunteers who, are professional Emergency
Medical Technicians. The department has a fully equipped ambulance and is
qualified to handle Advanced Life Support activities. Also they have a program
for youth in the community called the Cadet Fireman Association.
Our Police Department works with the community to provide a safe environment
for the residents and businesses in the community. We have three (3) full time
police officers and eight (8) unpaid reserve officers, who not only protect our
community, but also participate in many community activities.
The school system has two grade schools, one of which was designed and built
by Taft Architects, through the Cummins Foundation Architectural Fees Program.
The Flat Rock/Hawcreek School System offers a full range of educational
opportunities and experiences for its student population. In a study conducted
by Cinergy in 1996, the corporation was rated among the top 12 in Indiana for
delivering the greatest program "bang" for the dollars spent. Hauser High
School recently remodeled and added class rooms, a general purpose room, and
upgrades of sports facilities. Last year Hauser had 47% of its senior class
graduates with plans to attend various post secondary institutions.
An excellent vocational curriculum is also available through the Columbus
Area C4 program.
Besides the local schools, we are also only ten minutes away from Indiana
University Purdue University Columbus, Ivy Tech State College, and Indiana
Business College all of which are located at Columbus Municipal Airport, as well
as Indiana Wesleyan University, located in downtown Columbus. Other Colleges
and Universities are within a forty-five minute drive from Hope. Hope Chamber
has a committee which is working with the local school officials to develop
working relationships between the school system and local business and industry.
The Flat Rock Hawcreek School Corporation is also involved in a major
county-wide educational program. This program will provide a seamless
educational process for all students. A new $24 million community Educational
Facility is planned which will provide career counseling and technology for
students and training for teachers. It will provide advanced state of the art
technology to accomplish this goal. This facility will be located between the
Ivy Tech facility and the IUPUC facility at the airport just a 10 minute drive
from Hope.
A new 6,000 square foot, 20,000 volume, fully computerized branch of
the Bartholomew County Library was designed
and built by Deborah Berke of New York. The building's height and iron-spotted
bricks establish a rapport with neighboring structures, yet the library remains
a decidedly new building that confidently expresses its civic role.
Hope has a 75 acre Industrial Park with several industrial and commercial
buildings. And another new addition that currently on the drawing board with
plans to build within the next six months.
Although our industry is not large, it is diversified. Construction,
structural steel, trucking, meals for senior citizens, injection molding,
construction and environmental clean-up, fixtures and special machines,
hardwoods, seasonal plants, architectural panels, dust collector filters and
blast cabinet gloves, and agriculture are a few of the representative companies.
Another important element in the growth and development of a community is the
proximity of affordable housing. A subdivision of moderate priced housing in
the $120,000 to $160,000 range is located in a beautiful wooded area south of
the new Shopping Center. The first home built was on the Home Builders Home
Show in 1998. During the 2000 Home Arama, over 800 people came to view the
homes built in that subdivision. Currently under design is another addition
which should be under construction by the first of the year. The Hope area
population of about 6,000 and is made up of hardworking, industrious people who
give a day's work for a day's pay.
We are fortunate to live close to excellent medical facilities. Twenty
minutes to the west will get you to Columbus Regional Hospital which has a
major Cancer Center and a Birthing Center. To the north is Shelbyville's Major
Hospital and to the east is Greensburg's Decatur Memorial Hospital both of which
have recently done major upgrades.
The Hope Chamber has a committee working with Miller's Merry Manor, and they
are talking with Columbus Regional Hospital and local doctors in an effort to
develop a local clinic in the Hope Area. Miller's Merry Manor is working hard
on this project.
Two major banking institutions have branch operations in Hope. Irwin Union
Bank & Trust, a division of Irwin Financial, has seven (7) branches in
Bartholomew County. The Hope branch opened in 1956. The Corporation has $1.7
billion in assets. Home Federal Savings Bank has five (5) branch offices in
Bartholomew County. Its assets are $832 million.
Indiana State Highway 9 runs through the middle of town, and within a few
minutes will lead you to I-65 to the west, I-70 and I-69 to the north, and I-74
to the north and east. Only State Highway 9 connects all of these major
Interstate Highways within the State of Indiana.
Although all roads do not converge here we are at the center of, and
accessible to, the major city complexes of Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and
Louisville. Currently, just to the north of Hope, the State of Indiana is
acquiring land to extend State Highway 252 from where it ends in Flat Rock, to
State Highway 9. When this piece of road is completed, Hope will have a more
direct access route to I65 to the west.
Infrastructure inside the Town of Hope continues to be a top priority of the
Chamber and the Town Board Members. With the help of Chamber members, $250,000
was acquired through the Build Indiana Fund to reconstruct South Street which is
the major thoroughfare leading to many commercial and industrial facilities. The
$425,000 project was completed in the spring of 2000. This development was
coordinated with the recent upgrade in the water system.
The Town of Hope completed a major upgrade of its water system in 1999.
This included improvement of circulation, and delivery of water, as well as an
increase in water pressure, and the construction of a new 300,000 gallon overhead water
storage facility.
Our water is produced from wells; however, we also have an agreement with
Eastern Bartholomew Water Corporation to supply additional water when necessary.
We have an excellent water supply and backup. We believe these improvements in
the water system will help lower insurance rates for our whole community. The
Insurance Service Organization from the State of Indiana will come in and review
the water system and the fire department. At this time new State Fire Ratings
will be assigned.
Other Public Utilities include electric service from Bartholomew County REMC
and Cinergy, Vectron Engery, Ameritech Telephone Company, as well as a
Municipal Sewage System and water system. The Town Board is currently in the
process of renegotiating the Cable TV contracts, which has been in place for
twenty (20) years. Recently fiber optic
cable was installed and runs along both sides of State Road 9 through
our Hope Community.
