[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=17897

Mayor: Economics derail rail museum

Rick Richards
City Editor, The News-Dispatch

Indiana 1001 may cost city up to $3.5 million.

MICHIGAN CITY - There will not be a rail museum in Michigan City. On Tuesday, Mayor Chuck Oberlie pulled the plug on a project that dates back some six years, but has yet to get off the ground.

"I have informed INDOT that Michigan City desires to cancel a Transportation Enhancement Grant that has previously been awarded for the restoration of an old maintenance railroad car that had been used to repair overhead electrical wires for the South Shore," Oberlie said.

That grant, worth some $800,000, would have helped acquire land and develop a museum near 10th and Sheridan streets on the city's West Side.

Michigan City is facing the loss of between $2.2 million and $3.5 million in tax revenue next year because of taxation changes mandated by the passage of House Bill 1001 by the General Assembly this year.

Oberlie said now was not the time to be taking on such a project.

Besides the cost of the building - which had grown from housing one restored rail car to as many as three - Oberlie said it would cost upwards of $200,000 a year for utilities, insurance, maintenance and staffing.

"With significant budget uncertainties from the newly enacted property tax laws and increased local gaming competition, the city is not in a position to continue to pursue the development of the South Shore Line Car Museum," Oberlie said.

The mayor said he was disappointed had to make the decision, but added he probably should have made it a month ago when he learned that a new grant the city applied for had been denied.

"With the South Shore being based here, and it being such a strong part of the history of the community, we felt this would be a good fit for the community," he said.

Michigan City originally received a $250,0000 grant to develop the project, and the city had been working with rail historian and consultant John Hankey of Annapolis, Md. He had been working with the city to figure how best to display South Shore Line Car 1100, which is being restored by rail enthusiast Bob Harris.

The car, which dates to 1926, is a one-of-a-kind repair car used by the South Shore and is now in a warehouse on the city's West Side.

Oberlie said even though the car was unique, it wasn't the kind of car that would immediately make visitors think of the South Shore Railroad. For that, the city was talking with the National Lakeshore to have one of its restored passenger cars loaned to the museum.

Oberlie praised Hankey for his work, saying his vision for the museum was "awesome." However, no plans had been drawn up because the final decision on how to display the car - or how many would be on display - had not been made.

Hankey said Tuesday he was disappointed in the mayor's decision.

"It's unfortunate all the way around," he said.

He said the Line Car destined for Michigan City will most likely end up with the Illinois Railway Association in Union, Ill., but that decision will be up to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which owns the car.

Beyond that, Hankey said he didn't want to comment.

Meanwhile, Oberlie said the city will move on.

"It was a good idea, but we never really were able to get an answer on how big a draw it would be. We never had any raw numbers on what the museum would attract."

For that reason, and because of bottom line concerns, Oberlie said it was prudent to cancel the project.



Contact City Editor Rick A. Richards at news@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Roger Kaputnik]

What a loser. How does he get elected?

[krk]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=17897

The Train Car To Nowhere.....

[Ang]

I was very disappointed to read that. From an "outsider's" point of view, it appears as if your illustrious Mayor is holding Michigan City back. Yeah, I read about the future costs, but to deny the town a MUSEUM because the boat revenue is down is totally assinine. And then to use the property tax changes as another excuse is totally lame IMO. Especially since Carol McD sets the taxes as she sees fit. All Oh! No-berlie has to do it tell her, "We need X amount of money for this project" And Carol can pick and choose whose taxes will get adjusted to supply the demand for increased revenue.

Seriously, though, this is a travesty IMO.

[Roger Kaputnik]

The headline is misleading, too, because it is not ECONOMICS that caused the money shortage, it is the TAX POLICY. The repercussions of HR 1001 are barely discussed, but it is not gonna be good for MC. I am glad our Jim Arnold voted No to it.

[Tim]

I read this too - one wonders how many people would actually go to this thing. The South Shore means a lot to me - my grandparents on my dad's side were working there when they met. But for anyone who either doesn't have that or doesn't ride the train the South Shore is that hassle-hold-up at 11th. I think that when comparing the cost of putting this up up to the cost of revenue it would generate pulling the plug was the right thing to do.

[Ang]

Good point Tim.

[Tim]

Good point Tim.

Well, it's not hard to see how this would go. City spends a bundle getting the thing going, and once the initial group of looky-loos goes home it sits - and falls into a state of who-needs-it. Finally the city shuts it down kissing away the tens of thousands that was originally laid out. Did anyone do any market research to see if, in fact, a rail museum in Our Fair City was going to be a profitable venture?

I'm guessing not.

[krk]

Well, it's not hard to see how this would go. City spends a bundle getting the thing going, and once the initial group of looky-loos goes home it sits - and falls into a state of who-needs-it. Finally the city shuts it down kissing away the tens of thousands that was originally laid out. Did anyone do any market research to see if, in fact, a rail museum in Our Fair City was going to be a profitable venture?

I'm guessing not.

I'd like to know how much was already spent.

[MC Born & Raised]

I'm with Tim. My grandfather worked on the South Shore, too, and it's no doubt a part of the city's history. But I can't think of a more lame way to spend an afternoon than walking around and looking at a bunch of rail cars. There's no excitement in it, and it will ultimately flop. There are much, much, much bigger fish to fry. Will folks come from miles around to look at railcars? I highly doubt it. I probably wouldn't drive the half-mile or so to go. Just one man's opinion ...

[Roger Kaputnik]

Why couldn't it have been a display in the Prk, f'rinstance? Why a stand-alone museum? Jeez, in just a coupl'a days we have some good points about how to do something like this (not the way they talked about it)--who was in charge of this project?

A display somewhere makes sense to me.

[Ang]

Yeah, like at Wash. Park or something, so the tourists could see it too without having to drive around town looking for it. Being at a park would bring in a lot of foot/walk-in traffic.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=40768.12

Rail museum
City won’t get aboard

Editorial

Given Michigan City's rich railroad history, it seemed to be a natural when a rail museum was proposed six years ago.

The city is crisscrossed with railroads that helped fuel its development, and the impact on the city by Haskell & Barker, which manufactured railroad cars here for decades, was huge. And no one should overlook the continued presence and importance of the South Shore Railroad in the city.

For those reasons, the idea of a rail museum seemed to be an easy call. And while city officials and a few dedicated rail enthusiasts plowed ahead with the idea, it never generated much public support.

So with Michigan City - like every other Indiana community - facing a decline in tax revenue in the coming year, Mayor Chuck Oberlie decided to stop the project.

Some grant money had been obtained to study the idea, and plans had progressed far enough to announce that the city was looking at a site near 10th and Sheridan streets on the West Side. But how big the building was going to be and how many rail cars would be included had never been determined.

What was known was that at a bare minimum, the size of the building needed to house a 1926 South Shore Line Car would cost $200,000 annually in insurance, utilities, maintenance and staff. It was an expense the city couldn't afford.

With the number of rail enthusiasts in the area, the hope was they would step forward and help with the project, and while many were interested in donating their time, no organization - or combination of organizations - came forward to offer financial help.

In the end, that killed the project. It is disappointing that the mayor stopped the project, but he was right to do so. The city can lead and present a vision for the community, but it cannot afford to go it alone on a project of this magnitude.

Our Opinion
The Issue:

Rail museum proposed for city seemed a natural.

Our Opinion:

With declining tax revenue, Michigan City can't afford it.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=48616.63

1926 South Shore car to leave town

Joseph Malan
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - A piece of local history will be leaving Michigan City for good.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District recently announced Line Car 1100, a 1926 one-of-a-kind South Shore car, will be shipped to the Illinois Railway Museum and put on display there.

"The car belongs in a railroad museum," said South Shore General Manager Gerald Hanas.

The car was part of a planned rail museum in Michigan City that never got off the ground, due in part to the city's anticipated loss of between $2.2 million and $3.5 million in tax revenue in 2009.

"With significant budget uncertainties from the newly enacted property tax laws and increased local gaming competition, the city is not in a position to continue to pursue the development of the South Shore Line Car Museum," Mayor Chuck Oberlie said in an Oct. 8 The News-Dispatch article.

The NICTD board voted Nov. 21 to have its attorney, Charles Lukmann, pursue the transfer of the car on breach of contract from Michigan City to Union, Ill., where the railway museum is located.

Line Car 1100, the centerpiece of the proposed Michigan City museum, was a maintenance car used in the early half of the 20th Century to repair overhead electrical wires for the South Shore line.

"Over years, because of changes in technology, we needed a more reliable car," NICTD Board Chairman Mark Yagelski said.

Yagelski, a La Porte County councilman from Michigan City, lamented the city's inability to construct the rail museum.

"There just was not enough money to rebuild the car," he said.

Hanas, however, said he was optimistic of the car being properly displayed in Illinois.

"It's one of the foremost rail museums," he noted. "It's funded and operating, and it's well attended."

[jb9152]

Why couldn't it have been a display in the Prk, f'rinstance? Why a stand-alone museum? Jeez, in just a coupl'a days we have some good points about how to do something like this (not the way they talked about it)--who was in charge of this project?

A display somewhere makes sense to me.

Keeping it out in the elements? It would cost money just to maintain it from the rain and snow (and graffiti and vandalism). Any way you look at it, it would cost money for something that very few people, once the initial railfan excitement goes away, would be interested in seeing. At a museum that houses other equipment and displays, though, there's a much more consistent customer base and more constant flow of visitors.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Yeah, that sounds right, but it is disappointing to see NOTHING in MC. Also, I always remember the lights along the catwalk. After a huge effort to raise money and fix them, vandals wrecked them in a matter of days, if not hours. That cut deep; in fact, I am still pxxxed about it!