HANCOCK COUNTY — With an expanse of land eyed for a variety of developments serving as the county’s gateway, it’s perfect timing for a gas station onsite to get replaced with a more modern look.
“We’re very excited about this project because it’s nice to get rid of the old and bring in the new, especially in a brand new development like the Hancock Gateway center,” said Roger DeHoek, real estate development manager for Circle K, at a Hancock County Plan Commission meeting earlier this year.
The gas station and convenience store chain is trading its boxy building and red and yellow roofs near Mt. Comfort for a more modern structure with subtler colors and varying exterior dimensions. It’ll be the first development on the nearly 150-acre property Hancock Regional Hospital owns at the southwest corner of Interstate 70 and Mt. Comfort Road since the health care provider opened its new Gateway location there almost two years ago. The hospital, which hopes to foster a multi-use commerce park near the intersection of the two thoroughfares, says more is on the horizon.
Built in 1969, the 2,226-square foot Circle K building will be razed and replaced with one that’s 5,334 square feet slightly farther to the west. The gas station’s canopy, added in 1986, will be replaced as well.
“It’s an upgrade from our standard building that we’re doing these days, so you’re getting the Taj Mahal,” DeHoek said.
He added Circle K hopes for construction to start in June and an opening in November.
In response to the growing interest in the Mt. Comfort Corridor and lack of a defined gateway to the county, Hancock Regional Hospital wants to fill the remaining undeveloped land with retail, commercial, medical, institutional and other uses along with open space.
Rob Matt, senior vice president of Hancock Regional Hospital, told the Daily Reporter that the design and due-diligence phase is underway for an age-in-place campus that would consist of independent living, assisted living and memory care with the hope of one day adding a skilled nursing facility.
A couple other opportunities are in their early, exploratory phases too, he added.
“There is a considerable amount of interest, movement and long-range planning,” Matt said.
The hospital opened its Gateway Hancock Health facility there in 2019. It offers immediate care and imaging and lab services.
NineStar Connect, a Greenfield-based nonprofit utility cooperative, also recently finished a 500,000-gallon water tower on the site.
Hancock Regional Hospital is pursuing a similar Mt. Comfort Corridor endeavor on about 66 acres near U.S. 52 just west of New Palestine, where it recently opened Hancock Gateway South, which offers a wellness center, physician offices, a laboratory and physical therapy center.
