Miller Beach resort dream on hold, for now
Redevelopment commission is looking to develop 90-acre site on lakefront
Gary city officials have long speculated about developing a resort or some kind of attraction on the city’s Lake Michigan shoreline and had hoped to see ideas recently.
The dream for a 90-acre site in the Miller section of the city received a setback, however, when the Gary Redevelopment Commission learned that no bids had been submitted to do anything with the property at 860 N. Lake St.
Instead of having staff and attorneys spend the next few weeks studying the merits of various proposals and how they would benefit Gary, they now have to figure out how to revive their plan for the lakefront site.
Gilbert King, an attorney for the Redevelopment Commission, said Indiana state law will require the city to wait at least 30 days before they can do anything with the site.
In theory, Gary could send out an amended request for proposals, in hopes that an altered vision can attract developers.
But King said Gary also would have the option of seeking out a developer without seeking bids of any kind, once the 30-day time period is complete.
City officials likely will make their decision in coming weeks. Redevelopment Executive Director A.J. Bytner said the lack of bids received was a disappointment, although he admitted that even in the weeks leading up to the bid opening scheduled for Wednesday, hardly anyone had contacted the city with questions that would have helped them to place a credible bid.
“We received very little correspondence on this project,” Bytner said.
Wednesday’s commission hearing was moved to the lobby of the one-time Gary State Bank building downtown, as officials anticipated a potentially-large crowd of Miller Beach neighborhood residents – many of whom wanted to express their concerns about develop along the lakefront.
Many said they have objections to anything that would reduce public access to prime beach land.
“Our proximity to Lake Michigan is a precious resource for (Gary), and we ought to be careful about doing anything that could threaten it,” said Miller Beach resident Mollie Rucocci.
Natalie Johnson, executive director of the Michigan City-based Save the Dunes organization, said she fears any effort to bolster Miller Beach would wind up encroaching on the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to the east and would wind up having a harmful effect on the potential for ecotourism.
George Rogge, a member of the Miller section’s historical society, had questions about the process officials would use to determine what, if anything, will be built at the site. Bytner said that the city’s planning commission, Board of Zoning Appeals and Common Council all would have a say before anything was accomplished.
Gary resident Jim Nowacki called the city’s visions of developing the site a “cockamamie scheme.” He said, “It’s like they want to build Navy Pier here, even though that would be wildly inappropriate.”