An aerial shot of th 100-acre Indiana State Prison is shown. Joseph S. Pete
The Indiana State Prison in Michigan City has housed inmates since 1860. Joseph S. Pete
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MICHIGAN CITY — Gov. Eric Holcomb wants the people of Michigan City, and their elected representatives, to decide how to repurpose the Indiana State Prison property once the Department of Correction vacates it in a few years.
The Republican chief executive and Democratic Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch signed a letter of intent Tuesday night confirming the state's willingness to transfer the prison parcel to the city and the city's interest in obtaining the land.
The 24-acre Indiana State Prison site is located on the west side of Michigan City, just a short walk from Lake Michigan and adjacent to the South
Holcomb said repurposing the state prison site is something he knows has been talked about in Northwest Indiana for a very long time, and he's excited he could set the stage for its redevelopment as his second and final term as governor approaches its Jan. 13 end date.
"The beauty of this is that it allows Michigan City to dictate the future development at the prison site," Nelson Deuitch said. "The READI dollars we’ve received, working with Farr & Associates and building an inclusive steering committee will allow us to dig into the possibilities while preserving the historic value of the property."
Records show the Northwest Indiana Forum has allocated $350,000 from its state-funded READI grants to imagine uses for the state prison property, along with the potential removal and clean-up of the NIPSCO power plant and cooling tower on the Michigan City lakefront.
The Forum projects opening all that land to residential and commercial development could spur significant population growth in Michigan City, especially with commute times to Chicago on the South Shore Line down to about one hour following completion of the federal-, state- and local-funded Double Track project.
"How we approach things in a joint way has helped us build Indiana," Holcomb said. "That planning and execution to position us for 2030, 2040 is what I'm most proud of."
Construction of the Indiana State Prison — by its inmates — began shortly after Indiana purchased in 1858 what then was 102 acres of land for the sum of $4,500.
The prison has operated continuously ever since housing tens of thousands of ordinary and notorious inmates, including bank robber John Dillinger and 1920s Indiana Ku Klux Klan leader D.C. Stephenson. Dozens of men also have been executed inside the walls of the Indiana State Prison.
"Some of the facilities were first built in 1860. Not 1960. Like pre-Abraham Lincoln being sworn-in to office. Long overdue to modernize," Holcomb said.
The state prison's current population is slated to be merged with the inmates at the nearby Westville Correctional Facility after construction is completed in 2027 on the $1.2 billion Northwest Indiana Correctional Facility in Westville.
Holcomb toured the prison construction site Tuesday and confirmed its new name — "Of course, in the true Department of Correction way, they will make an acronym out of that and you'll never hear that full name again," Holcomb quipped.
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