An $8 million tech development coming to Union Station in downtown Gary has fallen apart: Decay Devils is working with Tom Dakich to find a new tenant. Staff photo by John J. Watkins
The inside of abandoned Union Station in downtown Gary. Staff photo by John J. Watkins
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The Decay Devils preservationist group is exploring its options for saving the historic Union Station downtown after an $8 million tech center project hit a roadblock.
The collective of artists, photographers and urban explorers, which came to acquire the long-abandoned train station after working to revive it for years, is looking at other tenants, grant opportunities and other alternatives for saving the 114-year-old neo-classical train station that's on the National Register of Historic Places.
"We're getting back on our fundraising campaign," Decay Devils President Tyrell Anderson said. "We're reaching out to an Indiana tourism group we haven't had a conversation with. We're not leaving any stone unturned. We're moving forward. We've been having some fruitful conversations and are seeing how we can get this back on track."
Anderson said the group is going back to looking at repurposing the Beaux Arts building into a mixed-use space.
"At this point we're just looking at how we can properly maximize our square footage and accommodate people who come to visit, people who pass by on the trail, people who are on I-90 and use the back side of the freight building as some sort of makeshift space," he said. "We're talking to universities and things like that because sometimes they have needs for additional space for events or workshops or classes, etc. Those are conversations we're having right now as we speak. We're seeing if we can get that support."
The Decay Devils also have been in talks with the National Park Service, since the property abuts the Indiana Dunes National Park. The hope is to open a trailhead there potentially with parking, bike rentals or a coffee shop.
"From the park side, even though they can't financially support us, which is fine, just their co-signing with our project and what our project is going to bring to the Region and us showcasing that we're the gateway to the National Park, we want to explore that conversation and see how we can mutually use that to benefit our projects," he said. "It could be simply stuff like maintenance of rest stops or bike rentals. We want to see what we can do, even if it's smaller like smoothies or a coffee shop."
Developer Digital Equity, the group behind the Digital Crossroads data center at the former State Line Generating Plant site in Hammond, was looking to convert the train station into a Fiber Smart House that would link Gary to high-speed fiber internet and additionally serve as a business and nonprofit incubator and a workforce and educational training hub.
Previous Gary mayor Jerome Prince, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan took part in a groundbreaking ceremony in August. The Gary Common Council had approved setting aside $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the project to bring high-speed internet to more residents in Gary, where internet speeds are just a fourth of the national average.
But then new Mayor Eddie Melton took office and decided more research was needed into the project. The developer has put it on hold unless it gets the go-ahead from the new administration.
The Decay Devils are now exploring other funding options.
Anderson, an operational excellence engineer at the Gary Works steel mill, was just named U.S. Steel's Volunteer of the Year and won a $15,000 grant that the Decay Devils plan to put toward the Union Station renovations. He also served on the board of Indiana Landmarks, the statewide preservationist group that has saved many historic structures across the Hoosier State.
"Lilly does a lot of funding through other entities through Legacy Foundation and Indiana Landmarks. Since I do have these connections and these relationships I will be exploring those as well to see if we qualify for something they have on the table," he said. "There's a lot of those nonprofit foundations we are going to have those conversations with to see if there's any potential support or funding for or initial funding we could use to support or build the project."
The Decay Devils, whose name is a portmanteau of urban explorer and daredevil in a reference to the group's penchant for exploring abandoned buildings, have extensively cleaned up the Union Station property over the last eight years. They've cleared away debris, boarded up the train station and commissioned murals by a variety of graffiti artists. They've installed a historical marker, a garden and a bench to give it a more park-like feel and encourage people to hang out and appreciate the architecture.
The Union Station, at 251 Broadway just outside the Gary Works, lies between elevated Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation rail lines that once transported passengers all over the country when they were still the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and Baltimore & Ohio rail lines. Built with an innovative cast-in-concrete method, the building was named by Indiana Landmarks as one of the 10 Most Endangered Places in Indiana.
Described as a miniature version of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, it's featured in movies like Alan Ladd's "Appointment with Danger" and "Original Gangstas," starring Pam Grier, Fred Williamson and Richard Roundtree.
It hasn't been used for more than a half century and had fallen into serious decrepitude before the Decay Devils adopted it and started to take care of it.
"We had hoped to be done with Union Station so we could start to transition to other projects," Anderson said. "But Union Station will get a big push now."
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