Gary Riverfront Revival Plan, the Delta

2 This project was completed under a grant to the Delta Institute from the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office. Project Team The Delta Institute 312 554 0900 (p) 53 West Jackson Boulevard 312 554 0193 (f) Suite 230 www.delta-institute.org Chicago, IL 60604 Grand Calumet Task Force 219 938 1400 (p) 6060 Miller Avenue www.grandcalriver.org Gary, IN 46403 Great Cities Urban Data Visualization 312 413 5779 (p) Laboratory www.uic.edu/cuppa/udv University of Illinois–Chicago 412 South Peoria Street M/C 350 Chicago, IL 60607 Acknowledgments The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, through Martin Jaffe at the University of Illinois–Chicago, provided helpful technical assistance on this project. The Gary Sanitary District gener- ously provided GIS data; any errors or omissions are strictly those of the authors. Dan Repay and others at the Lake County Auditor’s Office were likewise very generous in processing a special data request and providing other assistance. Officials at U.S. Steel were gracious in offering their perspectives and allowing access to portions of the Gary Works property. Alex da Silva and Malini Goel at the Indiana Department of Environ- mental Management provided support, answered many questions, and organized a ca- noe trip on the Grand Calumet. Nancy Kelly of the Grand Cal Task Force deserves many thanks for organizing meetings with Horace Mann neighborhood residents. Dor- reen Carey and David Wright with the City of Gary, finally, provided helpful advice and steering throughout the process. Prepared by Jesse Elam (DI) • T.J. Holsen (DI) • Kevin Lawler (DI) Brinda Kannan (UDV) • Xin Li (UDV) December 2004 the delta institute /GARY RIVERFRONT REVIVAL PLAN/ 3 Table of Contents Section Page Introduction ................................................................................................1 .................. 4 Principles and objectives of the Gary Riverfront Revival Plan....................2 .................. 7 Boat launch at Bridge Street ......................................................................3 .................. 9 Ambridge Park enhancement.....................................................................4 ................ 15 Conversion of C-lot to park.........................................................................5 ................ 20 The Grand Calumet River itself ..................................................................6 ................ 28 Redeveloping the Horace Mann community...............................................7 ................ 33 Conclusion .................................................................................................8 ................ 41 References.................................................................................................9 ................ 42 Summary of next steps.............................................................................10 ................ 45 Figures ......................................................................................................... ................47 the delta institute /GARY RIVERFRONT REVIVAL PLAN/ 4 1.0 Introduction tial communities in Gary to ensure the degradation of the past is not repeated. 1.1 Origins. The Gary Riverfront Re- Seeking the best ways to open Gary vival emerged in Fall 2002 as a partner- to the river, and to maximize the eco- ship between the Delta Institute, the City nomic and social benefits of the clean-up, of Gary, and the Grand Cal Task Force. this planning process sought to incorpo- At that time, the U.S. Steel Corporation rate the input of residents, government was removing contaminated sediments officials, and the business community. from a five-mile stretch of the Grand The Delta Institute and the Grand Cal Calumet River through Gary as part of a Task Force organized four meetings with consent decree and corrective action residents in the Horace Mann neighbor- agreement with the U.S. Environmental hood and met several times with U.S. Protection Agency (EPA). The Delta In- Steel officials and the Gary Chamber of stitute—a non-profit organization whose Commerce. The City of Gary Depart- work promotes community and economic ments of Planning, Environmental Affairs, development and environmental quality in Community Development, and Economic the Great Lakes region—and the Grand Development were instrumental in devel- Cal Task Force—a non-profit group that oping this plan, as was the Planning and works to enhance environmental and Development Council. State and federal economic vitality in communities along agencies, including the Indiana Depart- the river—approached the City of Gary to ments of Environmental Management and discuss future plans for the river. The op- Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and portunities arising from the clean-up of Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Environ- the East Branch were apparent, and a mental Protection Agency, also provided partnership was born. Through a grant valuable input. from the EPA, the partners embarked on a participatory process to create a plan 1.3 Economic value of clean-up on for redevelopment along the cleaned-up the East Branch. Early in the planning stretch of the river in Gary (Figure A). process, the Delta Institute retained an economist from the University of Illi- 1.2 Input and collaboration. The nois–Chicago to estimate the economic partners designed the Gary Riverfront benefits of cleaning up the East Branch. Revival as a two-step process, first to The analysis, available on the internet at highlight the benefits that could arise from www.delta-institute.org, showed that the rehabilitating the river and, second, to polluted river lowered the value of nearby create a conceptual plan for redevelop- residential property by a significant mar- ment along the river corridor, looking gin. Cleaning-up the river, the study con- carefully for opportunities to reestablish a cluded, could increase home values by relationship between the river and those almost 30 percent (McMillen 2003). This living and working in Gary. For genera- estimate is conservative, since it consid- tions the Grand Calumet has been dan- ers only the removal of the river’s nega- gerously contaminated, a detriment to tive economic impact. They do not take avoid rather than treasure. Newly into account the possibility that the river cleaned-up, the Grand Cal needs the will be transformed into a community as- stewardship of the business and residen- set over time, so that property near the river trades at a premium relative to other the delta institute /GARY RIVERFRONT REVIVAL PLAN/ 5 locations. The study also suggests that ally deteriorating boat launch. The such benefits could extend to the entire planned Gary Green Link trail would run city if redevelopment efforts are under- near to the launch. The plan recommends taken that protect the river ecosystem, grabbing the opportunity, suggesting meet community needs, and foster a measures to stabilize and improve the healthy economy. launch, as well as a management strat- egy to ensure its continuing value and 1.4 Project setting. Sediments were recreational connection its surroundings removed from the East Branch between (Section 3). The boat launch is aimed at the Conrail trestle (not shown in Figure A) serving all residents of Gary and the re- and the eastern end of open water on gion. U.S. Steel property, from which point the Enhancements to Ambridge Park river runs underground to join the (Section 4) are geared more toward the Marquette Lagoons (not shown in Figure Horace Mann neighborhood. Erosion is A). This stretch lies wholly within the City severe along the river here, and the river of Gary and determines the east-west bank area is scruffy. The park is underu- extent of the project area. To the south, tilized, partly because its recreational fa- the boundary of the immediate project cilities have not changed with the popula- area was taken to be Fifth Avenue, fol- tion. This plan proposes improvements lowing the Delta Institute’s economic aimed at preserving the park’s centrality study (McMillen 2003), as a reasonable in the neighborhood and tying it with the area of influence from the river. proposed South Shore redevelopment to The land on the north side of the the east as well as, again, the Gary Grand Calumet through the project area Green Link (Figure A). is a mix of industrial property, right of way Converting the C-lot, a former U.S. for I-90, and holdings by the Indiana De- Steel parking lot, to a park and cultural partment of Natural Resources (Figure site is meant to connect the river and D). To the south, the pattern is somewhat Gary’s most famous industry to downtown different. The primary use is residential (Section 5). This project, too, would join over about half the stretch (the Horace with downtown reinvestment (such as the Mann or Ambridge Mann neighborhood), Steel Yard stadium and streetscape im- although the river is buffered through provements) and the trailhead of the Gary much of that by a strip of undeveloped Green Link. Establishing the park entails land owned by the City of Gary. Industrial drawing a connection through the set of uses take up essentially the rest of the train and highway overpasses at the property immediately adjoining the river northern edge of downtown. on the south. These sites are connected by the water flowing past them, but they are not 1.5 Project overview. This plan deals conceptualized as related. Joining them with three main sites along the river (Fig- in perception into sites along

Load more