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Last updated on Friday, May 8, 2015
(UNDATED) - Indiana’s new state budget includes 53-million dollars for a quartet of construction projects tied to next year’s state Bicentennial.
Legislators granted Governor Pence's request for money to transform the plaza on the east side of the statehouse into a park-like gathering space.
Department of Administration Commissioner Jessica Robertson says the design work is already done.
The Indiana Arts Commission will ask for proposals next week for an artist's interpretation of the torch on the state flag, to serve as a centerpiece of the plaza.
Robertson says the plaza will be a lasting memento of the 2016 celebrations.
The state is considering an above-ground "time capsule" for the plaza, featuring representations of distinctive characteristics of each county.
The budget also funds an education center at the State Library for the many fourth-grade tour groups which visit the statehouse complex. But most of the 53-million-dollar appropriation is earmarked for a new state archives building and the first new state park inn in 76 years, at Potato Creek in North Liberty.
Robertson says the state currently houses its archives in a building on Indy's eastside which lacks climate control and other precautions needed to preserve 200-year-old documents.
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