The multi-million dollar Gary Blight Elimination Program began this week with the start of demolition Tuesday of the former Lovell’s Barber College at 1700-1704 Broadway.
It is the first of two structures that will be taken down by Gary-based C. Lee Construction Services as part of the program's first contract. Work at the second site, the former ambulance repair shop, will begin after the first project is complete, according to the project manager the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority(RDA).
RDA President and CEO Sherri Ziller said, “We are eager to get to work in Gary to lay the foundation for future economic growth”
Funding for the Blight Elimination Program is split between the City of Gary, which benefited from a $3 million contribution to its share from Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, and the RDA, whose half comes from the state.
Ziller went on to say that the RDA will work with the City to direct the Transit Development District funds to incentivize further development.
The 316-acre district is anchored by the Gary Metro Center transportation hub, extends west along 5th Avenue and encompasses Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus. Extrending Eastward, it includes the U.S. Steel Yard stadium area and Buffington Park. The south end of the district stretches across Broadway, down to 19th Avenue.
Any growth in property and local income taxes within the district will be collected in an RDA-administered fund to support economic development within the TDD.
