Gary officials are looking for help with the development of a civil rights hall of fame and museum.
The city, working with the leadership of the proposed National Civil Rights Institute and Hall of Fame, wants to have a feasibility study and a comprehensive business plan for the project, which is a goal of former Mayor Richard Hatcher.
The feasibility study would determine whether there is sufficient interest in Gary, a city of about 84 percent African-American population, to maintain such a museum. The business plan is meant to suggest both short- and long-term ways that the museum would exist.
The two studies will be paid for by a $60,000 federal Commerce Department economic development administration grant. The city and institute added $7,500 each of their own funds. Grants were received in October of last year.
Gary’s Commerce Department officials began their Request for Proposals from firms on Jan. 18, and firms interested in doing the work had until Friday to ask any questions they may have of city officials in putting their proposals together.
Firms wishing to have their proposals considered must have them submitted to the city Commerce Department by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Firms to be hired for the project will be informed by mid-February. Work is expected to begin on March 3, and to be complete on Aug. 31.
City officials said, in their RFP, that they could wind up hiring separate firms to do the feasibility study and business plan.
“Bidders are… strongly encouraged to respond based solely upon their respective area(s) of expertise,” the RFP reads. “Should more than one consultant firm be selected, they will be expected to collaborate by readily sharing information, data… they obtain as a result of their respective work on this project.”
Once bids are received from various firms later this week, city officials will review them to determine whose bids will be accepted. The Gary city Board of Works Department will have final say to approve contracts for the project by Feb. 22.
Hatcher has long touted the idea of a civil rights-oriented facility. Municipal officials have said that his election in 1968 as one of the first African-American mayors in the United States makes Gary a legitimate place to pay tribute to the national civil rights movement.
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City officials, in their RFP, touted economic benefits that a civil rights museum could bring to Gary, potentially attracting some 500,000 people a year to visit Gary.
“Implemented successfully, projects… have the potential to leverage the city’s assets in ways that can begin to diversify the economy, create jobs for Gary residents that pay livable wages (and) other benefits,” the RFP reads.
It also could “spur the establishment of new/expanding small and other businesses that can serve the needs of workers and visitors, as well as residents,” the RFP reads.
The institute already owns land that once was Banneker School at 23rd Avenue and Garfield Street, although Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson has said city officials expect the studies to determine if that truly is the best location for a museum. It is two blocks from the Grant Street exit onto Interstate 80/94.
Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.