Main Street Entryway

At Spencer Main Street's Annual Meeting on August 11, 2025, the Board presented to attendees a plan for an entryway arch that would create a welcoming entrance to Spencer's Historic Courthouse Square. The structure is planned for Main Street, just south of the Morgan Street intersection.

(Concept drawing courtesy of Rundell Ernstberger Associates)

The structure consists of limestone-faced columns and an iron arch that spans Main Street. At the enter of the arch is a decorative element that echoes the shape of the Courthouse dome. At the base of each column are granite extensions that will serve as raised beds for plantings.

Spencer Main Street's Entryway Committee has been working for months to generate ideas and develop a concept for the structure. All along the way, the Committee has kept the Town Council apprised of preferences and decisions. The Committee is working with the Town Council's help and approval.

Once the brainstorming and "want" lists were created, the Entryway Committee engaged the services of Rundell Ernstberger Associates, an urban design and planning firm based out of Indianapolis, but already familiar with Spencer because of the firm's involvement in the Town's Cooper Park improvements on the south side of Cooper Street. Landscape designers Cecil Penland and Rotina Yian created several concepts. The committee examined the options, chose one, and asked for refinements to arrive at the design concept presented to the public.

The Entryway Committee is now beginning the serious and hard work of acquiring funding for the entryway arch. Spencer Main Street is committed to making this improvement to Main Street so that every driver on Morgan Street knows that there is a reason to turn at the light and explore the charms of downtown Spencer.

Spencer Main Street, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) that was founded in 2015. The 14-member, all-volunteer Board is dedicated to preserving and revitalizing the nine-block area that makes up Spencer's Historic Courthouse Square.