Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson chats with Dara Smith at Gary Chamber of Commerce luncheon
Mayor highlights successes of 2016 to Gary Chamber of Commerce
Contributed By:The 411 News
Growing each year a little more than the year before
Calling it a preview of the upcoming State of the City Address, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson was the featured speaker at the January Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon.
Starting with some of the highlights of 2016 and what to look forward to in 2017, the mayor said the city will continue “to work to leverage all of our assets.
The city’s institutions topped her list of highlights. She pointed to the new Indiana University-Ivy Tech classroom building that will be finished later this year. “We were able to go the Indiana General Assembly early on in our tenure, encouraging them to use the money that had been set aside long ago,” Freeman-Wilson said. “That was a way to leverage someone else’s money to work on the Choice Neighborhood Plan that will bring retail opportunities to activate the Glen Park community along the Broadway corridor.”
Methodist Hospitals’ $30 million renovation of the Northlake campus emergency room and intensive care units was another instance of leveraging, the mayor said. “Mr. Grady heard me loud and clear when I talked about feeling like a stepchild after seeing the renovations performed at the Merrillville campus.”
The mayor included ArtHouse as another of the city’s successes in 2016 that turned the old Dusties Restaurant into public art on the outside and a culinary incubator on the inside.
The city has begun development of the land vacated with the Sheraton Hotel demolition. Parking, phase one of the project is complete; next will come green spaces, parking for food trucks, and during winter months a portable ice rink.
Edsal Mfg., using space in the old Budd Plant, is now up to 400 employees from the 100 it started with in 2015.
In 2017, street pavings will continue and the city will initiate a matching grant program for new residential sidewalks.
For the first time, Community Development Block Grant funds will be used to support and grow small businesses; the city will restart the Dollar House program; and talks have started with the state to provide extra support for Gary schools.
The public-private partnership involving MaiaCo has identified areas for revitalization on the city’s west side, along the Broadway corridor and in the Aetna area.
“Each year we are working to get a little further than the year before and the year before that,” the Mayor said, “because an entire community of people is counting on us to do just that.”
Story Posted:01/16/2017
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