Two Clarksville Infrastructure Projects Beginning to Take Shape

Stormwater Basin

CLARKSVILLE, IN (May 18, 2023) – Questions have been raised by residents in recent weeks surrounding two sites in the Town of Clarksville currently under construction.  Those questions have come in the form of social media posts, emails, and calls to Town Hall.

The first location is a large grassy area located off Bass Pro Drive, near the Bass Pro store and the old Regal Movie Theater.  For weeks, crews have been working on the major expansion of a water basin in that area.  Known as the Broadway District Stormwater Project, the newly expanded basin is needed to address and prevent flooding in the area.  During heavy rains, the areas along Cedar, Horn, Madison and Adams Street flood to the point that intersections have to be closed, leaving residents without access to their homes.

Stormwater Basin

The Broadway Project significantly reduces the flooding risk by installing new storm water pipes.  The greatest planned improvement is the enlargement of the stormwater detention basin at the River Falls Mall property.  The project is expected to cost $13 million with $5 million coming from a Storm Water Infrastructure Fund (SWIF) grant from the State of Indiana.  The basin is also outlined by a new walking path which residents will be invited to use.  In total, crews have removed 3,908 dump trucks full of dirt as part of the project.

So where is all that dirt going?  That leads us to the second construction location residents have been inquiring about.  As part of the creation of a new downtown area in South Clarksville, Town leaders worked to purchase 24 acres of land that once belonged to Marathon Oil.  The land is located just across the flood wall from the Ohio River and west of the Bolt + Tie building.

To prepare the land for future development, engineers determined that they needed enough fill dirt to raise the elevation of the property by 18 to 24 inches.  The purpose is to change the direction of drainage so that stormwater runoff will flow towards Clarksville’s new Main Street and its brand-new drainage systems.  In order to change the elevation of such a large area, engineers needed to come up with a lot of dirt.  Fortunately, the Town of Clarksville had plenty of dirt to spare thanks to the Broadway District Stormwater Project.

Dirt Piles in South Clarksville

Each time a dump truck full of dirt was removed from the water basin near Bass Pro, it was transported down to south Clarksville to help with the elevation change for our new downtown area.  Not only did south Clarksville receive dirt from the Broadway District, the area also welcomed fill dirt from other projects around Town including those near Lincoln Drive, Cottonwood Drive, and Blackiston Mill Road.

Work on creating the new Broadway District Water Basin is expected to be completed soon. The work in South Clarksville, however, will be ongoing as the Town works to create new streets and add additional infrastructure to promote development in the area.  South Clarksville is already home to the extremely popular Bolt + Tie mixed-use development, with construction well underway on Denton-Floyd’s new Current812 development.  That project includes 200 apartments and townhomes, with a two-story rooftop restaurant, pool, and street-level retail options.  Denton-Floyd is also preparing to start construction on a second multi-use complex in the area later this fall.

  • Stormwater Basin