PORTAGE | The development of Portage's Lakefront Park will rack up a number of firsts by the time it opens next summer.
It is the first construction project funded by the
Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, which approved $6.375 million for its development Tuesday night.
It will be the first tangible outcome of the
Marquette Plan and, for local residents, it will be their first municipal beach. The 60-acre former waste water treatment plant site will be handicapped accessible with a pavilion designed with leading-edge, environmentally-sensitive technology.
Mayor Doug Olson and A.J. Monroe, director of community planning and development, said Wednesday they were "pleasantly surprised" with the RDA's quick action this week. While they anticipated project funding would come, both had anticipated the application would have been taken under advisement for future action.
"I think the RDA recognized it is such a cool project," said Olson. "The cool thing is that this is not only for our citizens, but for all of Northwest Indiana. Porter County has put in about $7 million (for funding the RDA) and we're getting $6.4 million back. The first major chunk of money is for the people in Porter County."
The next step in making Lakefront Park a reality, said Monroe is approval by National Park Service's Development Advisory Board in June. The DAB has already given the city approval for its conceptual plan. The city and NPS are partners in developing the park. The NPS owns the property and entered an agreement with the city to construct and operate the park.
There also will be a public hearing sometime in May in anticipation of the DAB review on the environmental assessment study conducted for the new park.
Following the DAB's approval and that of the NPS director, said Monroe, construction documents will be developed. Bids should go out for the project in September, with a late October letting. Construction could begin in November.
"It is an aggressive schedule, but an obtainable one," said Monroe. "We have been working on this project every day for several months."
Monroe pointed out the project's importance, not only to the city, but to the region.
The highlight, said Monroe, will be the story that can be told, taking the land from a brownfield site, cleaning it up and restoring it for public use.
"Everything we do on this property, we can use elsewhere," said Monroe, adding the Portage project can lead by example in the goal of the Marquette Plan to reclaim 75 percent of Lake Michigan's shoreline for public use.