Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson recalls the downtown Gary of her youth as a place where she could go shopping for clothes, savor a chocolate-covered graham cracker at Goldblatt’s, or purchase 45 rpm records for 69 cents on Thursdays at the record store.
In the years since, Gary’s downtown has declined precipitously. A drive down Broadway shows many vacant storefronts and abandoned historic structures.
“We’ve experienced what many downtowns have experienced as there was a move to strip malls and to the suburbs, leaving what once were stately and majestic buildings in disrepair,” Freeman-Wilson said at a Wednesday morning press conference.
But the city is receiving a much needed jolt to its downtown corridor as it was chosen to be a pilot demonstration site for the National Main Street Center’s refreshed approach to revitalizing communities and using preservation-based economic development. Gary — along with six other U.S. cities — will receive 18 months of hands-on technical assistance from national experts on the best ways to economically redevelop the area. The program is funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Knight Foundation, and Gary will receive local assistance from the Legacy Foundation.
Kennedy Smith, principal/co-founder of Community Land Use and Economics Group, said memories of a thriving downtown are important drivers in getting revitalization projects started.
“That nostalgia in part is important for beginning to get traction when it comes to making downtowns economically healthy, vibrant places again. The historic buildings are also extremely important,” Smith said.
More Top Picks Best Smart Rings
Smith said the National Main Street Center started its work as downtown centers across the United States deteriorated in the 1960s and 1970s, but the new emphasis really hones in on economic development strategies to give communities focus and direction. One of the tools is an economic leakage study, which shows how much money is being spent in the community and how much do residents spend outside the community. It drills down to specific business types — for example gas stations and clothing stores — to see if communities have a surplus or a deficit and can help guide the city in what businesses they want to try to attract, Smith said.
Representatives from the National Main Street Center toured the downtown on Wednesday — specifically the area between 4th Avenue and 9th Avenue to the north and south and Adams Street and Delaware Street to the west and east.
“If you look at the places both old and new around downtown, one of the challenges we have is to develop plan to bring it all together, celebrate our history, preserve what we can, and demolish what we can’t in order to recreate a sense of place for our downtown,” Freeman-Wilson said.
Freeman-Wilson is particularly hopeful that the process will reinvigorate a downtown site that is popular with both movie producers and urban explorers.
“One of my biggest hopes is that this process will jump start the revitalization of historic Gary Methodist Church, which is really an eyesore among newer development nearby, including new housing and the 21st Century Charter School,” Freeman-WIlson said.
Freeman-WIlson mentioned properties at 504 and 578 Broadway as examples of historic properties still functioning as commercial and residential properties; they serve as the site for Centier Bank and the Gary Housing Authority, respectively.. She hopes that projects like ArtHouse: A Social Kitchen and the U.S. Steel Yard will help attract related businesses.
“We want to leverage work already being done to catalyze type of development we really need to see,” said Deardra Green-Campbell, the director of the city’s department of commerce.
Following the tour, Smith and others will discuss their observations and talk about the next steps for the process.
Kathy LaPlante, senior program officer for the National Main Street Center, said Gary’s application was notable for the commitment to preserving the city’s character.
“The reason Gary was chosen is the city is already working on revitalization projects,” LaPlante said. “You really value what was here and it’s great that you have historic district (downtown).
“I live in New Hampshire, and we have the malls and fast food places, which are the same everywhere, but local mom and pop businesses help make a community what it is, give it character, and drive people there.”