SEYMOUR, Ind. — It’s America’s small town and home to musician John Mellencamp
“We are the small town the song was written about," Becky Shepman, the executive director of Seymour Main Street, said. “He talks a lot about what he loved about Seymour, and our community loves all those same things. We’re a community with a lot of heart.”
But it's also a community with some crumbled corners.
“We do have some buildings that need some help and some dilapidated alleyways," Shepman said.
So when Shepman heard HGTV was looking for small towns in need of a makeover to feature in a new show called "Home Town Takeover," she acted fast.
“I was like okay what do we have to do," she said.
The application requires towns with less than 40,000 people to provide some photos and an audition video.
“They said in the video they wanted us to show off some historic architecture, which we have lots of great architecture downtown Seymour," Shepman said. "I felt like we were in the perfect place to apply for it.”
Seymour's video will be taped in front of the town's Mellencamp mural on Tuesday with his songs used as background music.
If Seymour is picked, 6 episodes will be filmed in the town, and the downtown and historic district will get a facelift.
“I think this could be just what we need to put us over the edge," Shepman said while mentioning other development already happening in the town.
But still, broken down alleys downtown and empty storefronts are a constant reminder of the improvements that could be made.
“We would love to see that activated and see some lights and some placemaking with some artwork and maybe some café tables where people could grab food and sit and eat," Shepman said.
But whether or not Seymour makes it on the show, Shepman has big plans for the small town.
“Even if we don’t get it, I think it’s rallied the community around us. I think it’s brought exposure to Seymour and all the cool things we have going on and the hopes that we have. Hopefully, someone will notice us and come downtown and open up a cool coffee shop," she said.
She plans to continue to work to make Seymour a destination, and not a town in the rearview mirror.
“We’d like to have enough that people come down here and they stay," said Shepman.
Contact reporter Abby Lutz at alutz@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@abbyjlutz) and Facebook.
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