A project to turn the abandoned Gary Union Station into a "Fiber Smart House" officially broke ground Wednesday. When complete, the building will serve as a fiber access point, as well as a technology training center and business incubator.
Tyrell Anderson is the president of the Decay Devils, the nonprofit urban exploration and preservation group that owns the building. "From its inception, it's connected people. From New York, all immigrants from across the world came right here to relocate, to work at this company [U.S. Steel], to build this city, to build this region, to build this heritage area. And man, we're about to reconnect it again," Anderson said.
U.S. Representative Frank Mrvan said the project will make the historic building a bridge to the future. "So today, we're here to celebrate because Gary is connected, because Gary is going to plug in to the next generation of jobs," Mrvan said.
Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch said Gary will lead Indiana into the future. "I'm from Evansville," Crouch said. "I know what it's like to be ignored by the Indianapolis establishment, and it's why I travel the state like I do — because I realize there are more important parts of the state than just Indianapolis."
Crouch said technology will help industries do more with fewer people. She noted that Indiana still has 126 thousand unfilled jobs, even though its population has gone up.
