GARY | With the long-awaited removal of the former Sheraton Hotel completed, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson is looking to the community for ideas on what to do with the vacant space.
For her part, Freeman-Wilson would like to see an outside area that could be used for performances as well as an outside gathering spot for city hall employees and others to enjoy their lunch in warm weather. In the winter, she thinks it would be nice to have a skating rink at the location.
Freeman-Wilson said the city does not have many places like that for residents to enjoy and "we certainly don't have them downtown."
The mayor emphasized, however, that she wants to hear from residents about their own ideas for the site and plans to have a community meetings on it when the weather turns warmer.
Freeman-Wilson is also hoping to meet with developers and real estate professionals in regard to other sections of the city where demolitions are taking place. The amount of land to be redeveloped will depend on whether she can secure additional money from the state to remove much of the remaining abandoned properties within the city.
"Simultaneously to making plans for demolition you have to make plans for development," she said.
During the community meetings, which could take place within the next couple of months, Freeman-Wilson said the city will have a couple of preliminary proposals for the former hotel site for residents to view and comment on. The city previously said it had received some U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant money that could be used for green space at the site.
The 14-story, 300-room hotel that was vacant for about 30 years was located adjacent to city hall and cost about $1.8 million to demolish.
The removal of the hotel was one of Freeman-Wilson's goals when taking office. At a recent meeting of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, she said the vacant structure was an eyesore that "cast a shadow on all of downtown."
Freeman-Wilson is also hoping to acquire some additional money the state received from the U.S. Department of Treasury to remove a large portion of the thousands of abandoned structures still within Gary.
The state received $221.7 million in Hardest Hit Fund money that was to be used between 2011 and the end of 2017. The fund was initially established to provide financial assistance to families impacted by the downturn in the housing market.
The state made $116.4 million available to provide mortgage payment assistance for families facing foreclosure, while $75 million was put aside for blight elimination. The remainder of the money was allocated for administrative costs.
According to Mark Neyland, director of asset preservation for the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the state has allocated $59.4 million of the $75 million designated for blight elimination, with additional requests in the pipeline from other communities. The portion of money the state allocated for Lake and Marion counties has all been awarded, according to officials.
In addition, the state has spent about $57 million of $116..4 million available for mortgage assistance and about $17 million of the approximately $30 million set aside for administrative costs.
Freeman-Wilson would like the state to reallocate a lot of the remaining funds to blight elimination and is hoping Gary could get perhaps another $30 million for removing most of the remaining abandoned properties in the city. Obtaining that money could prove difficult.
Neyland said "that would take some significant adjustments in terms of program allocation on our part."
As far as another round of money becoming available through such a program, Neyland said "all things point to this being a once in a lifetime program."