Artist Sam Lima recently created this image of downtown South Bend in the style of 1920s South Shore Railroad posters. Image provided
SOUTH BEND — Some local residents are turning to a combination of old-school-style illustration and new-age online petitioning to try to sway the South Shore Railroad debate in favor of a proposed downtown location.
A local artist has created an image of downtown South Bend in the style of the classic 1920s South Shore Line posters. More than 300 copies of the poster are being printed and will be posted around downtown this week.
And supporters are encouraging people to sign a change.org petition to Mayor Pete Buttigieg and other city leaders urging them to back moving the South Shore station from South Bend International Airport to a downtown location.
“Bring the South Shore to downtown South Bend,” urges the online petition, which as of Tuesday afternoon had more than 675 signatures.
The colorful poster image shows Union Station Technology Center, Four Winds Field, the “Keepers of the Fire” sculpture, the river, and the downtown and University of Notre Dame skylines, against a starlit night sky.
South Bend resident Sam Lima said he designed the poster in six to eight hours during the past two weekends, using the classic South Shore posters as inspiration.
Lima said he’s an enthusiast of the art nouveau and art deco styles of the early 20th century, and he sought to bring that sensibility to the design.
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