About Hammond, Indiana
Hammond has big plans to lure visitors to town
By Carrie Napoleon
HAMMOND – Economic development efforts to bring new retail and restaurant businesses may be the catalyst to spur more visitors to the city.
Beth Downes-Jacobson, director of economic development, said right now city officials are targeting several areas for redevelopment, including the newly renamed Oxbow Landing (formerly River Park), Robertsdale, and the city’s downtown.
Bids are being accepted until Feb. 19 for projects within the approximately 20-acre Oxbow Landing commercial development located at the southeast quadrant of Kennedy Avenue and Interstate 80/94. Downes-Jacobson said all of the infrastructure already exists in the area making it ready for quick development.
“I think in particular that Oxbow Landing really has the potential to develop into something unique and nice that brings people from all over in,” she said. One parcel in Oxbow Landing already has been purchased by a hotel developer.
Downes-Jacobson said the location of the development right at the I-80/94 interchange and across the street from the South Shore Convention and Visitor’s Authority Indiana Welcome Center makes it a logical spot for retail and restaurant development that will attract visitors coming to Lake County. A similar idea is behind the Woodmar Gateway Economic Development Area, which brought in a Cabela’s to the southwest interchange of Indianapolis Boulevard and I-80/94. Future development is being looked at on land adjacent to Cabela’s.
Plenty of Events
Hammond has a foundation of attractions that draws visitors, especially in the summertime. Annual events, including the Festival of the Lakes, draw thousands, while special events, such as Beatles Fest, are growing in size. Retail and restaurant development is needed to give people who visit more places to visit.
“When people come somewhere to visit, they want to be able to relax and find a little additional time to do things. There is a great need for restaurants and hotels,” Downes-Jacobson said.
Speros Batistatos, executive director of the SSCVA, said it is important communities realize what investments into the tourism and hospitality industry can mean to the local economy in the long run. Drawing visitors to the region is an important economic driver because they bring in money without using services paid for by local tax dollars.
“It’s money that was earned somewhere else. Those are the people we want here,” he said.
The city of Hammond is looking to develop land adjacent to the Cabela’s, on the southwest interchange of Indianapolis Boulevard and Interstate 80/94 (photo: Sun-Times Media)
Shopping
As redevelopment efforts go on, more people will stop – and shop – in the city. In Robertsdale a developer has pledged $20 million into retail and restaurant commercial development along the Indianapolis Boulevard corridor. Redevelopment there began three years ago with the opening of a Super Walmart on the north end of Hammond near the intersections of Indianapolis Boulevard, the Indiana Toll Road and Horseshoe Casino.
Efforts will include removing some of the older blighted buildings to make way for new growth.
“We are also working on a southern shores plan with the city of Whiting … to develop that into an entertainment and recreational area,” Downes-Jacobson said.
Recreational Development
The Southern Shore District Improvement plan is a collaborative effort geared toward future development of Whiting and Hammond, north of 129th Street, with one of the goals being to make it more of a destination for visitors.
To that end, Whiting Mayor Joseph Stathura is drumming up support for Senate Bill 173 in the Indiana Legislature that would create a trial Lake Michigan development zone that would create an unlimited number of liquor licenses in an area designated along the lakeshore designed to spur recreational development.
“That’s a great idea. A lot of times when we get calls from restaurant developers, the first question out of their mouths is the availability of liquor licenses,” Downes-Jacobson said.
Adaptive Re-use
Downtown Madison Construction has purchased the former Harris Bank building.
“They have some exciting plans for the Harris Bank building,” Downes-Jacobson said, adding those plans include refreshing the high-rise building’s dated exterior. They are working on securing tenants right now.
There has been some reinvestment in the downtown area for a while now. The casinos have always been a draw, pulling people through the city. In the fall semester of 2010, the Hammond Academy of Science and Technology opened downtown, just west of Hohman Avenue. New parking has been added along Hohman Avenue to make accessing businesses more convenient for visitors.
“I think with the activities on the northern part of the city, that’s part of a larger scale effort to get people from outside of the area to come visit and enjoy themselves,” she said.
Top photo: The Hammond Academy of Science and Technology is part of a redevelopment area known as Downtown Certified Technology Park. (Sun-Times Media)
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