With the finance-throttling impact of Senate Enrolled Act 1 looming, the Portage Redevelopment Commission voted Thursday to issue $15 million in bonds to fund high-priority projects.
Those include a bridge over Burns Waterway and extension of Burns Parkway to open 300 acres for development on the city’s north side at the site formerly known as Halas Harbor. “I think it’s safe to say the Bears aren’t coming there at this point,” Mayor Austin Bonta said.
Redevelopment Director Dan Botich listed the other projects included in the bond issue. Those include a kayak launch at Salt Creek, improvements at the intersection of Samuelson Road and Central Avenue, a new road and parking where Portage Mall is located, drainage improvements and extension of Veterans Parkway, and demolition of substandard buildings throughout properties the RDC owns.
“Yes, these are some big projects, but they are vital projects for moving our city forward,” Bonta said.
Without the new bridge, the 300 acres on the city’s north side where the failed Sportsplex project was to have been built would not be ready for development. Building the bridge makes the land more marketable to developers, and selling that land would bring a big paycheck for the RDC as well as jobs and tax revenue to the city.
Engineering work for the bridge is almost completed, so that project could go to bid as soon as Oct. 1, Botich said.
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The Portage Mall project aims to create the core of a new downtown along Central Avenue between Hamstrom and Willowcreek roads. That’s a dream Bonta and several past mayors have been working on. It includes creating a walkable downtown.
The RDC on Thursday also moved forward on reassembling parcels for future development on the east side of the existing Portage Mall buildings.
“Imagine the current downtown mall as it now exists having an east side that mirrors it,” Bonta said. “This allows for the developers to bid on the entire area or specific lots at their discretion.”
The Kayak Point funding would be used as seed money for grants that Indiana Dunes Tourism would pursue, Botich said. Grants come faster and easier when the matching funding is already in hand, he explained.
At the intersection of Samuelson and Central, “that design is complete,” Botich said. “As soon as that bond is issued, we can go to bids.”
The Veterans Parkway extension and associated drainage projects would facilitate traffic in the area of the new Target and BJ’s Warehouse developments.
“We’re really covering the whole city,” Bonta said, with these projects.
The bond issue is expected to be considered by the City Council on Tuesday.
Not included in the bond issue, but also acted on Thursday by the RDC, was a look at the former Garyton School, which has been abandoned for years. With no one coming forward with a plan to renovate and reuse the building, the RDC plans to demolish it.
Before that can happen, though, the power for the adjacent tornado siren needs to be separated from the power to the old school.
The RDC will need to seek new bids to demolish the school as it puts together a request for proposals to redevelop the site. It’s currently zoned institutional, but it’s surrounded by homes.
Bonta said whatever the future use of the site might be, he wants to include some kind of tribute to the memory of the former school that served students for so many decades.
Member Debbie Podgorski asked if other capital projects could be paid for with the bond issue. In theory, yes.
“That addition would also be by subtraction,” RDA attorney Scott McClure said, to stay within the $15 million bond amount.
Bonta said as SEA 1 starts choking municipal revenue, the RDA will need to be more flexible in how it can help the civil city, beginning over the next two years. Issuing the bonds means cash on hand isn’t spent before it might be urgently needed.
And selling the 300 acres, especially, to one or more developers will be a significant cash flow boost for the RDC.
At Thursday’s meeting, the commission also gave approval to start marketing property left over from an Old Porter Road project.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.