LAWRENCE, Ind. (WISH) — Mayor Deb Whitfield on Monday said she hopes her city’s event calendar makes it a destination and ultimately a place people want to live and work.

Whitfield has presided over a busy calendar since she took office Jan. 1. BBQ & Blues was moved to the Fort Ben Cultural Campus off 56th Street after it outgrew its previous location at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park. There was the city’s annual Lagers in Lawrence and 4th Fest. Whitfield added a Thanksgiving meal for seniors and veterans. To top it all off, she said about 2,500 people came to Lawrence Community Park to watch the total solar eclipse in April.

Whitfield said her goal is to use those events to get people to think of Lawrence as a destination. Once they do, she said, she is already thinking about where the city might need to add infrastructure capacity and how to bring in more affordable housing. Whitfield discussed both issues with one of her community advisory councils on Monday. She said she began meeting with groups of local business and faith leaders as well as elected officials to come up with community-generated ideas.

“They are the pulse on the ground,” she said. “And so, it’s not just my idea, it’s the ideas from the folks that we are depending on to step up to help Lawrence become the city, the community of opportunity.”

Whitfield is Lawrence’s first Black mayor and one of a record nine Black mayors across the state. She said while that record is commendable, the fact that they account for such a small percentage of Indiana’s mayors, coupled with the fact that so many are their city’s first Black mayor, shows how far the state still has to go.

“We stand on our ancestors’ shoulders. Many people broke barriers for us to be here,” she said. “We’re going to have to march on and we’re going to have to reach back and bring others with us.”

Whitfield said she hopes to build on the success of Lawrence’s 2024 events calendar next year. She said she plans to add more events at the Fort Ben Cultural Campus and at nearby Civic Plaza. She also wants to continue the city’s partnership with Lawrence Township Schools district to look for ways to enhance students’ education, including something as simple as guest talks at schools.