ELKHART, Ind. (WISH) –The key to growth is to make the necessary investments in both hard and human infrastructure to support it, Elkhart’s mayor said.

Shortly after he was reelected last year, Mayor Rod Roberson launched Aspire Elkhart.

The initiative combines new and existing infrastructure projects to direct them toward one of four goals: infrastructure, public safety, quality of place, and neighborhoods.

“We went into planning in order to make sure that we were funding the elements that would be transformative for Elkhart,” Roberson said Monday, Dec. 23.

The River District downtown features mixed-use development, with ground-level retail space and residential space on the upper floors. It also includes Elkhart Health & Aquatics, a fitness center with an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

The parking lot was packed Monday morning.

In addition, Roberson said the city is currently redeveloping two former shopping malls, one to serve as a small business space and the other as a neighborhood hub.

The initiative includes a major water and sewer project in the neighborhood where Roberson grew up.

Roberson said the area around Benham Court became one of the most underinvested areas in town after a railroad underpass opened 60 years ago.

Since water and sewer lines are combined in the area, Roberson said overflows are frequent. A new lift station will separate the two lines to help prevent future flooding.

Better flooding protection would improve property values in the neighborhood, which in turn would boost values across the city.

“This is the kind of neighborhood activity that allows us to be able to increase our livability and increase our quality of life for those that live in it and those that are going to come to it,” Roberson said.

Roberson became Elkhart’s first Black mayor when he was first elected in 2019. He is one of nine Black mayors in the state and one of four along its northern boundary, along with Eddie Melton of Gary, Anthony Copeland of East Chicago, and Angie Nelson Deuitch of Michigan City, all Democrats.

Roberson said voters chose him because they believed he was the best person for the job at the time.

“If, indeed, we want everyone to have access to the American Dream, to the things that make this country so great, then we have to have all types of people being able to perform roles of excellence inside of our country,” he said.

Roberson said it’s up to the state’s Black mayors, and mayors as a whole, to serve as role models, particularly for children. He said the goal for every mayor should be to leave a good legacy.

In his case, Roberson said Aspire Elkhart will result in a city very different from the one he grew up in. One that appeals to the needs and wants of future generations.

“I believe our achievement is more important than our color and our culture. I believe that our ability to be great mayors will create that next level of African-Americans and Latinos and anyone that could be a minority to say, ‘I would like to do that,’” Roberson said.