
Retail boutiques, locally owned restaurants, and offices proudly surround the Square and Park Plaza in historic downtown Highland. Its fountain is illuminated at night with light patterns that reflect the spirit of the town and its residents. Downtown Highland Square and Plaza Park serve as the main attraction and gathering places with plenty of beauty and green space. Many small businesses call Highland home, offering a diversity of products and services usually only found in larger cities. “These events are very popular and help introduce visitors to all the benefits of our town,” says Hemann. Other fun events held throughout the year in the active town of Highland include Art in the Park every October, The Gobble Hobble Fun Run on Thanksgiving morning, the Holiday Lighted Parade and Holiday Home Tour in December, and 4th of July Fireworks at Glik Park. It is known for having many different types of activities, food, and items for sale in the various tents around the festival. The county fair’s arena features a different highlighted event each evening from a combine and demolition derby to a tractor pull and stock car races.įinally, August will bring in thousands of visitors for Kirchenfest, a three-day church picnic with a German flair that offers food, drinks, games, entertainment, kid’s activities, races, auctions, and a flea market. It hosts the Madison County Fair each July which is a week of intense fun for children and adults of all ages with carnival rides, livestock shows, musicians, 4-H exhibits, and pageants. The Highland Jaycees hosts this fundraiser. One of them is Schweizerfest, a festival held the second weekend in June at the downtown square with carnival rides, entertaining bands, drink, and food vendors, and parades on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Yet Highland is home to many festivals and events in its own right each year. Louis and the related big-city activities and events there.

It is a safe community with exceptionally low crime rates but benefits from being conveniently located right off Interstate 70 and just 30-45 minutes from St.

Core Elite will not cater the events, Ostrander said, but she is working on a list of preferred vendors and will be applying for a liquor license.One of the features of Highland is the fact that its citizens are very giving and are invested in the community, says Mayor Kevin Hemann. The venues will have a common catering kitchen.

There will also be a chapel inside the factory and separate suites for the bridal and groom parties. There will be gazebo area for outdoor weddings, a rustic-themed “chicken-and-beer dance” hall, and a formal venue with tall vaulted ceilings, two bar areas and a cocktail reception area. The rest of the renovation plan calls for three large venue spaces with different themes.
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Along with the extra practice space, Core Elite will be adding a parent lobby with live feed televisions, a snack stand and pro shop. This section will also include something Core Elite has not had before, according to Ostander, a “basket toss room” with a 44-foot ceiling for practicing more advanced skills and throws.
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In addition to accommodating their own business, the Ostranders will also be leasing space in the Wicks factory to Innovative Movements, a dance studio in Highland, and are planning to turn another part of the factory into a venue for weddings and other events.Ĭore Elite’s new cheer space will have two full sets of mats, including a 42-by-52-foot spring floor and dead mat. The paper work to complete the deal was signed on the next morning, Ostrander said, adding the company will now be making steps toward remodeling. Ostrander said the acquisition was contingent on the Highland City Council approving the rezoning of the Wicks factory from industrial to commercial “highway business.” The council approved the zoning change at its meeting on Aug. This picture shows what will be the main tumbling room, parent lobby and pro shop for Core Elite.

She also said they are planning to turn a large section of the building into multiple venues for a number of different events. Renovations for the building are estimated to be completed by June 1, 2018, according to Ostrander. Jennifer Ostrander, the president of Core Elite, said they are currently calling the new building Core Complex, LLC. The property was acquired from Frey Properties, LLC by Frank Ostrander. Inside the Wicks Pipe Organ Factory, located at located at 1100 5th St., and the future home of Core Elite Tumble and Cheer.
