BY SUSAN BROWN, Times of Northwest Indiana
sbrown@nwitimes.com
MUNSTER | If the deal is clinched Monday as expected, Cabela's will build a store about the size of the Meijer superstore in Highland, Munster officials said last week.
In reporting on an Oct. 18 meeting with Hammond officials, Munster Town Manager Tom DeGiulio and Councilman Robert Mangus said the building is estimated at between 220,000 and 250,000 square feet.
The total size of other commercial developments on the property to be owned by Cabela's are projected to be between 750,000 and 900,000 square feet, they said.
Mangus said Hammond engineers have studied the potential traffic flow in and out of the area and are in talks with the Indiana Department of Transportation. Under consideration are three turn lanes in an area south of Interstate 80/94.
At the time of the meeting the precise location of the store on the site had not been determined, but the Hammond Fire Department may require a gated access to the back of the site somewhere along Northcote Avenue, he said.
The need to build the store out of the flood plain may require the building of a levee. The prospect, however, would merely accelerate a process already in place by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In recent months, Munster residents have asked town officials to stay abreast of plans for the store.
Mangus said officials are planning to meet monthly with the next meeting late in November.
The real estate closing between Cabela's and owners of the Woodmar Country Club remains set for Monday as planned although Mangus said as of Oct. 18 it appeared doubtful the company could complete its due diligence analysis by then.
Due diligence is a process by which all the material facts to a sale are confirmed.
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