TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – The recent businesses closures in 12 Points don’t take away from the progress they have made in the past few years to officials.
With the closure of Studio 12 and Eric’s Humble Pies, that marks the third business closure in 12 Points this month alone. However, this has not broken the spirits of the people in charge.
Pat Goodwin, the president of the community’s revitalization committee, said despite those closures, he remains confident more growth will come.
“If you had told me five years ago, or 10 years ago, that we’d have a dozen businesses in 12 points, and three of them would be closing or relocating, I would’ve been ecstatic,” he said. “Just the fact we have that many businesses going on is an amazing success. You’re always going to have some turnover in those small business, that’s to be expected, so we know that’s part of the process.”
He said there is a waiting list for those who wish to bring more stores to the area.
“The nice thing about that is in those buildings, the landlords are doing a good job, there’s a waiting list for those spaces. So when one opens up, it’s filled right away,” Goodwin said.
The neighborhood is consistently trying to battle maintaining the historical integrity they have, while making it a worthwhile spot for prospective business owners.
“Right now, our biggest problem is we have a few property owners who don’t want to fix their buildings up and don’t want to sell them. What I hope to see is that those property owners become motivated to either fix up your properties, or sell them to someone who will,” Goodwin said.
He shared his vision of what he wants 12 Points to be.
“We want it to be something that the neighbors feel like is a community asset that they can walk to. That they can be entertain. That they can get their essentials taken care of. That it can really be a part of their everyday lives.”
He also said that there are usually always things happening in 12 Points.
“We have events practically every week. There are usually always things going on in 12 Points that are trying to make this community better in whatever way they can,” Goodwin added.
The 12 Points Revitalization Initiative has a board meeting on Wednesday, August 16th.
