The downtown area of one Fountain County city is among Indiana Landmarks’ 10 Most Endangered sites for 2020. Built before the Civil War, downtown Attica is a National Register-listed streetscape and Indiana Landmarks hopes to spur a revitalization of the area. “In the 1800s, when they planned Attica, someone had the foresight to go ahead and build our downtown along the Wabash River,” says business owner Lisa Kraft-Jordan. “We’re all tied in together. We all have this unique fiber. We have this character. We have that small town look that people love so much.”
Residents and business owners want to save that aspect of the city’s downtown. As the only downtown listed two years in a row on the 10 Most Endangered list, Indiana Landmarks is hoping they can do just that.
“Attica as a community is so fortunate to have so much historic fabric. The historic downtown (is) such a unique part to the community,” said Tommy Kleckner, Indiana Landmarks Western Regional Director. “Placing it on our 10 Most, we hope that it would start to draw attention to it, make people aware of it.”
But it won’t be easy, especially for a downtown whose peak spanned from 1845 to the early 1940s. Population shifts to bigger cities and the advent of the automobile slowly chipped away at Attica’s historic downtown Perry Street. Now, the clock is ticking in 2020 to save the beloved 175-year-old Indiana town.
“It has a tremendous history for Indiana, tremendous history on the Wabash and it’s part of our heritage,” said Rod Bannon, director of economic development for the city. “It’s part of what makes us special. It’s part of what makes it powerful for future generations. So if we lose that, then we just become another city.”
Attica Mayor Duane Roderick says the city has a lot that needs to get done in the downtown area, but the financial commitments just aren’t there. He says one of the biggest projects would be the restoration of the former downtown Attica hotel that was built in 1853 and in need of major repairs.
“The hotel goes way back to back when Bettie Davis and Al Capone supposedly ate there,” said Roderick. “There was all kinds of history. Bing Crosby ate there. It’s just had such a history through the years that it’s something we really would like to save if we could save it.”
Kleckner says in 2012, the rear facade of the north wing of the hotel collapsed and has sat unrepaired. Earlier this year, an upper corner on the original structure collapsed.
During these uncertain times, he believes restoring the heart of downtown Attica will help save a community looking to evoke its once vibrant self.
Bannon says a revitalization of downtown Attica such would add to the city’s successes.
“The city of Attica is not down and out. We’ve got several successful factories. We have a tremendous tourism industry. We have something to build on.”
Around INdiana Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman’s visit to Attica is the first in our Endangered Indiana series. On this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, she will travel to Lake County to visit the historic Gary Roosevelt High School.