Many of the residents of the 62 or so homes slated for demolition in Hammond said they’re willing to go — if the price is right — to make room for the proposed Gateway South Shore station on a highly anticipated new line for the South Shore commuter railroad.
If the Federal Transportation Administration approves the Westlake line and provides half of the $600 million price tag over 30 years, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore, will build the Gateway station on Wabash Avenue in the city’s oldest neighborhood.
The area is bounded by CSX freight railroad tracks to the south, a South Shore double track to the north, and from Sheffield Avenue west to the state line. The Gateway Station would allow travelers to head east-west and north-south from one point.
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Many of the affected homeowners are on the 200 block of Hanover St., between Sheffield Avenue and Wabash Street. Matt Jakubczyk, 89, a retired firefighter and lifelong Hammond resident, said he’d pull up stakes and move, if he has to.
“It’s like anything else, it’s the future,” he said on the porch of his tidy brick home with a postage-stamp front yard. “I don’t mind. I think (the train station is) a good idea for a lot of people. If they give me a good price, I’ll sell.”
Jakubczyk said he would move into assisted living because he doesn’t want to shovel snow and maintain property
Maria Jordan, 36, who lives with her elderly grandfather, a daughter, 11, and an autistic 2-year-old son, was not happy with the prospect of moving and said she would have to make special arrangements for her son.
“It’s just life-changing plans. I’m just trying to figure out what to do,” she said.
“We grew up here,” Jordan said, pointing from her front door at homes along the street where neighbors said they all look out for each other. “Great-grandkids, grandkids, kids. My grandma grew up here. It’s a family home.”
While the federal approval and funding process takes a long time, NICTD and city officials said they will soon begin plans to buy the properties needed for the new line and the new station.
In November, the Hammond City Council unanimously passed the “Hammond Is My Home” ordinance, offering owners market price to sell their homes and an additional $5,000 if they relocate in Hammond. Those who do not sell likely will face eminent domain proceedings.
The decision to support the Westlake corridor, the Gateway station and a nearby maintenance yard was difficult, but it makes sense in the long run, said Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott, Jr. The city will invest about $900,000 in local option income tax proceeds over 30 years, or about $27 million, but it will get upward of $300 million in economic development, he said.
The city recently ran into a similar situation when it widened Gostlin Ave., McDermott said. Some residents happily sold their homes, while others resisted, forcing the city to use legal means to get the necessary properties.
The same could happen in the north Hammond area, McDermott said.
“Some people will be devastated, and some will be happy, so we’re going to run the gamut of responses,” he said. “It’s a super tough call, because you know people have worked for decades to improve their houses.
“But, as mayor, this is too good an opportunity to pass up for the City of Hammond, and I would be committing malpractice, as the mayor, if I didn’t take advantage of this opportunity for the city.”
There Mike Noland, CEO and general manager of NICTD, also expects mixed reactions.
“There’s no doubt there’s going to be some people who are not happy, but there may be others who may think this is like money from heaven,” he said.
Rick Lomelli, who has lived on the corner of Sheffield and Hanover for 30 years, said he’ll take the money and sell his house, but will move to Munster.
James Douglas, 45, who lives in a two-story home in the middle of the block, pointed to each home and gave a brief history of its ownership. Douglas, who said he is on disability and cannot work, keeps neighbors informed of development details.
“All of us are kind of like family, because we’re kind of secluded, being between the sets of railroad tracks. Everything’s up for grabs, still. I would like to stay in Hammond, but, of course, they’re breaking up our whole family here,” he said.
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.