LAGRANGE – The Lagrange Town Board expressed interest in acquiring the parking lot next to the alley behind the Post Office last night.

Town Manager Mark Eagleson said Farmers State Bank reached out to him to see if the town would be interested in taking over the lot.

"They no longer have a need for their parking lot next to the alley by the mailboxes. There are a lot of positives I think that can come from that. We've had the young people from Lakeland working on that pocket park. If we also had that parking area it would give us a bigger footprint to work in."

Eagleson said a primary reason for the town to take over the property would be to improve safety on U-S 20.

"We have for years and years and years had multiple accidents because that's a one-way, with traffic coming into that alley from the wrong direction off of both 20 and Hawpatch. If we actually took ownership of that alley and parking lot it would give us the ability to create a U where it wouldn't impact the use of the mailboxes but we create an avenue where they would exit through that parking lot back onto Wayne Street again."

The board gave Eagleson permission to explore the possibility with the bank.

Eagleson told the board the town will receive a mural courtesy of a project by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.

He has to submit three potential locations for the mural and is currently talking with building owners about the process.