“Vote No On The Rezone” sign held up at the April 15th Gary city council meeting
Land usage at former Beckman School angers Gary residents
Contributed By: The 411 News
Dunbar-Pulaski and Edison school sites were also rezoned for commercial use
Just outside the door to Gary’s Common Council chamber Tuesday night, the president of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development passed out signs printed with “Vote No On The Rezone.”
GARD’s Dorreen Carey and supporters came to voice their opposition to Ordinance 2025-17, an amendment to the City of Gary’s Zoning Code on land usage.
They were disappointed at the council’s 5-4 vote to approve the rezone, establishing the 23rd and Grant Commerce Center Planned Unit Development that includes Beckman school, at 1430 W 23rd Avenue.
Kyle Glasgott, of Indiana Investment, the owner of the property that holds the ruins of the former Beckman Middle School, has plans to turn the site into a warehouse and light manufacturing facility.
Third District council member Mary Brown, the 5th District’s Linda Barnes-Caldwell, the 6th District’s Dwight Williams, At-Large members Darren Washington and Kenneth Whisenton voted for the ordinance.
Voting against the proposal were 1st District council member Lorrie Latham, the 2nd District’s Dwayne Halliburton, the 4th District’s Marian Ivey, and At-Large member Myles Tolliver.
“We here in Gary complain about high taxes because we don’t have businesses in the city to take the brunt of some of the taxes we have to pay,” Mary Brown said when the ordinance was first heard at the April 1 council meeting. “We understand that any services in the city are provided by taxpayer dollars. It is incumbent on the council to find revenues to pay for those services. We can’t pay our firemen and policemen enough if we don’t get tax revenue.”
The council’s majority showed an agreement with Brown that “It’s time to do something to collect tax revenue on that property.” The Gary school district closed Beckman in 2004.
Large, unused land parcels are drawing interest from commercial developers, when Gary residents are asking to keep their neighborhoods intact. They don’t want trucks on their streets. They want housing.
The city needs to do something about these school properties, LaTanya Rogers said during the public comment portion at Tuesday’s council meeting. “There needs to be a contingency plan for the unsold schools.” In her own neighborhood, the vacant Dunbar-Pulaski Middle school, 920 E 19th Ave, was purchased in 2022 by American Kitchen Delights.
The company is a manufacturer of frozen foods including pizzas and sandwiches; and contracts with companies to make foods under private labels. AKD said it wanted to move some of its Harvey, Illinois food processing operations to Gary. AKD has not yet brought its plan to the Gary Zoning Department.
Edison School, 5400 W. 5th Avenue, is now the home of Djuric Trucking. It faced the same community opposition during the Prince administration. After the Gary Community School Corporation deeded the school property to Gary’s Redevelopment Department and its purchase by Djuric, the school was demolished in 2022.
The school district’s unused properties will be the focus when the Zoning Department holds a public meeting on Thursday, May 15th at the Gary Public Library.
Story Posted:04/19/2025
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