Evansville’s annual State of the City speech is usually a much anticipated annual event delivered to a large crowd, but not in 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySajtVrAHf8
In his annual speech, distributed on Facebook and You Tube, Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said the state of the city is resilient.
Noting that any speech delivered right now will be primarily about the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the mayor talked about several initiatives such as the COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund of the Greater Evansville Region, which has raised $4.7 million for relief during the crisis. He also talked about the volunteer efforts of the Feed Evansville Task Force and how the city’s two hospital groups have worked closely with local officials to lessen the impact of the pandemic.
In the video, Mayor Winncecke said, “I anticipate a measured re-opening, that is to say, we won’t go back to pre-pandemic business models for a while. We are in regular communication with the state administration, which ultimately will provide direction on how, and when, we re-open. Certainly, a lot more to come in this area. Please know that I appreciate everyone’s patience, understanding and flexibility during an unprecedented time. We’ll get through this together.”
Other projects in the state of the city speech that aren’t COVID-19 related include progress on building a pedestrian bridge over U.S. Highway 41 near Bosse High School and continued construction work on the Deaconess Aquatic Center.