Clarksville puts offer on former Colgate-Palmolive plant

Libby Cunningham, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

Feb. 8—CLARKSVILLE — The town of Clarksville voted Tuesday night to put a $6 million offer on the former Colgate-Palmolive Co. plant at 1410 South Clark Boulevard.

The Town Council vote was unanimous and to be sent to its current owners, Clarks Landing Enterprises Investments LLC.

Clarksville Communications Director Ken Conklin said this is part of the eminent domain process the town started on the property last year.

"Any time you use eminent domain to acquire property, part of the process is to do an appraisal and offer the value (to the owner) and the owner has the right to reject or accept that offer," Conklin said, adding if the owners decline the offer, the town will continue with the eminent domain process and proceed with litigation.

Conklin said the town's attorney, Chris Sturgeon, was to hand deliver a copy of the offer on the property to Clarks Landing Enterprises Investments LLC.'s attorney Wednesday. The offer was also to be sent via FedEx.

At this time the town will "focus on protecting the site and getting ahold of the property" Conklin said.

"(There are) no plans as of yet as to what we will do other than preserve it," he said, adding that includes the iconic Colgate clock. "The clock will definitely be a high priority in terms of preservation."

The structure is in the quickly developing area of South Clarksville where the town is working to redevelop the area with luxury apartments, mixed-use developments and more.

Clarks Landing Enterprises Investments LLC. has 30 days to either reject or accept the offer.

"We don't want residents to think we are going to demolish the building," Conklin said. "The whole purpose of the town working to acquire the property is to preserver and protect (it)."

The plant closed in 2007 and was unused until it was purchased in 2011 by Boston Development Group LLC. It was transferred in 2014 to Clarks Landing Enterprise Investments LLC.

The company submitted a master plan for the area to the town in September 2019, which included the development of a hotel, parking areas, site stabilization and cleanup of some of the buildings on the property.

The town said those plans haven't come to fruition.

Long before Colgate-Palmolive took over, Indiana's only state prison was relocated to the address in 1847. It replaced Indiana's first state prison, built in Jeffersonville in 1820.

The brick structure was considered modern at the time, replacing the wooden facility in Jeffersonville. Prisoners themselves were tasked with building part of it, and it was not built up to standard at first.

In 1918, much of the property was destroyed by a fire, rumored to be an arson, and in 1923 the facility was sold to the Colgate Company.

The iconic 40-foot clock, one of the largest in the world, was relocated and lit in 1924.

The News and Tribune reached out to Clarks Landing Enterprises Investments LLC.'s attorney for comment but had not received a response by Wednesday evening.