BEECH GROVE — Generations of Beech Grove residents used to shop for groceries at the corner of 18th Avenue and Albany Street, but the site has been abandoned for years. Now, a plumbing school wants to take the plunge and build on the abandoned lot.
Mechanical Skills, a trade school currently located on the east side of Indianapolis, purchased the former Marsh grocery store site and hopes to move its operations to Beech Grove.
"We wanted that central location," said Chuck Gillespie of Indiana Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors. "We have a shortage of probably 500 to 1,000 plumbers in Indiana and the facilities we have currently are cramped."
Beech Grove's Marsh closed when the supermarket chain went bankrupt in 2017. A Safeway Foods moved in shortly after Marsh went out of business, but the market was abandoned and demolished by 2022.
First-term Beech Grove mayor James Coffman said the supermarket is a tough sell on the real estate market.
"It's been tough. This lot has been a focus for the city for many years," Coffman said. "When we lost the old Safeway a few years ago, it was hard. I used to shop at Marsh all the time. My father-in-law used to be a manager here."
Coffman said the closure of the nearby Saint Francis Hospital in 2012 added to the economic anxiety of the neighborhood.
He is hopeful the addition of hundreds of potential plumbers in Beech Grove every night could revive the area.
"I think this is a positive use for this site and it will spur more development this way," Coffman said. "This is a main corridor into the city of Beech Grove. There's so many areas of the city just prime for that, and I think this is going to add to it."
Beech Grove City Council needs to approve a rezoning request before Mechanical Skills can start building.
-
Bob Ross painting sells for $320k at auction
"Mountain Summit," a painting done by Bob Ross during Season 13 of his show "The Joy of Painting," sold for $320,000 at auction on Tuesday.
Serena Williams loses in her 1st singles match in nearly 4 years
Serena Williams showed plenty of what made her a 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion in her first professional singles match in nearly four years on Tuesday.
LeBron James not returning to Lakers, plans to play 24th season elsewhere
LeBron James is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers. He has told the Lakers that his eight-year run with them is over and that he'll play a record-extending 24th NBA season elsewhere.
Fire responders say Marion County has seen an uptick of drownings this year.
This year, Marion County has already seen nine fatal drownings and three non-fatal drownings, where people were successfully resuscitated. First responders call it an astounding number. Last year, the county had six.
