Indiana is spending more than $55 million on its 200th birthday
Come next year, Indiana will celebrate its 200th birthday by giving itself a party — complete with presents — with a total value of more than $55 million.
And that’s just the state’s share. Throw in more than 430 locally funded events, and the price tag will be even higher.
The biggest chunk of the state’s tab, $53.5 million, will be spent on birthday presents that include a new state archives building, an inn at Potato Creek State Park, a Bicentennial Plaza at the Indiana Statehouse and a learning center at the state library.
Beyond those projects, the price tag of the Bicentennial grows with the running of a torch relay across all 92 Indiana counties, an event with an estimated $1.6 million cost to the state.
The Bicentennial planning began under former Gov. Mitch Daniels who used his last State of the State speech to kick off a nature trust.
When Gov. Mike Pence took office, he encouraged the state’s Bicentennial Commission to think even bigger, said Chris Jensen, a former head of the commission. The commission worked with the state administration to come up with a list of capital projects they felt would leave a lasting legacy.
“Gov. Pence kind of encouraged that next level, that excitement, to get Hoosiers (thinking) what is the legacy we can leave in 2016 that will be permanent markers going forward,” Jensen said.
During this year’s legislative session, state lawmakers approved a plan to raise the money by leasing out underutilized capacity among the 311 cell towers the state owns.
The cell towers, which are mainly used for emergency communications, would be leased to companies such as Verizon and AT&T, and eventually to a third-party that would sublease to other companies.
Budget officials say they are confident proceeds from those leases will cover the capital projects.
The most expensive of the projects is the $25 million state archives facility and the $24 million inn for Potato Creek State Park near South Bend. Projects around the Statehouse are lower at $2.5 million for the education center at the state library and the $2 million Bicentennial Plaza planned west of the building.
Bicentennial organizers said the need for the state archives facility had been discussed for a while because temporary storage is now used to house historical documents.
“There was a very broad consensus really that developed on the archives. I think there is a feeling that the archives are very important papers, and they haven’t been adequately protected. They are very vulnerable to bad weather,” said former Congressman Lee Hamilton, who chairs the state Bicentennial Commission along with former Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman.
The projects received mostly bipartisan support in the legislature, but not all Hoosiers are on board.
Indiana’s director of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group backed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, said the cost for the Bicentennial is concerning.
“While the state claims there will be no cost to taxpayers because of the leasing of underutilized state cell tower capacity, that is money that could have gone to other priorities or simply back to taxpayers,” Chase Downham said in a statement.
An influential budget writer, state Sen. Luke Kenley, said while he’s never been as enthused as the governor about Bicentennial spending, he sees merit in the approved projects.
“I’m comfortable with what we are doing,” said Kenley, a Noblesville Republican, explaining Pence made a “good play” in including the state archives project in the Bicentennial.
One project Hoosier taxpayers will fund the cost of is the $1.6 million torch relay.
The six-week relay planned for fall 2016 is being paid for out of state funds given to the Indiana Office of Tourism Development.
The $1.6 million will cover the cost of the event, including the design and manufacturing of the torches used during the relay, said Jake Oakman, director of communications for the department. The state also is developing a mobile visitor center to travel with the torch that will include an interactive museum. The cost will include “logistical necessities,” Oakman said, such as route security, safety preparations and personnel, torch route staffing and promotional efforts.
Overall, the projects are part of the broader Bicentennial celebration leading up to the actual statehood Bicentennial of Dec. 11, 2016.
“We want to celebrate and make memories, of course,” Skillman said, “but more importantly we want to help prepare Indiana for the next 100 years of progress and change.”
Call Star reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @indystarchelsea .