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> Park and Police need new offices
Southsider2k12
post Mar 3 2008, 02:06 PM
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How long do you think it will take the Park Board, er City Council, to appove a new expensive building for the Parks Dept? Maybe the mayor should tell them what he told YMCA, "If I help you, then I have to help everyone..."

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=54108.65

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Michigan City, Indiana www.michigancityin.com Monday, March 03, 2008


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home : local news : local news
3/3/2008 11:32:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
Police, Parks Have Building Options
City seeking the best places to situate the two departments in need of new facilities.

Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - City officials understand the need to build new homes for the police and parks departments.

And most feel the best place to put those new homes is in the same places they now sit.

"We're looking at building on the site we currently have (for the police station) and for the park building, I think the best thing to do is keep both where they currently are," Mayor Chuck Oberlie said.

The city has retained a pair of design firms to look at both operations and judge what the best course would be for both.

The police station at 102 W. Second St. was built some 40 years ago as a bomb shelter. It is too outdated to keep up to date technologically, Chief Ben Neitzel said last month.

And the parks department office - built as a bathhouse in the first half of the 20th Century - is falling apart. According to city councilman and former Park Board President Joe Doyle, it is no longer adequate.

"They just need new space," Doyle said. "There's so much that goes on in here and the building just isn't good for that any more."

The Michigan City firm Fanning and Howey has already met with police officials and is currently working up proposals, Oberlie said. The Valparaiso and Chicago firm Design Organization Inc. is likely to meet with park officials soon.

The hiring of the firms last month is another step in what is turning into an aggressive North End redevelopment plan foretold by Oberlie in January.

The city is designing traffic pattern changes on Franklin Street and has stepped up legal efforts to acquire a few remaining properties along Trail Creek and Michigan Boulevard.

Oberlie noted former Mayor Sheila Brillson looked, six years ago, at building a new police station with an added space for the shared police and fire training facility.

The training facility has since been located in a former fire station on Michigan Boulevard near Carroll Avenue.

"There are so many situations in the city that we haven't been able to solve," Oberlie said. "It's time we look at some of these things that need to be fixed."

The city had earlier mentioned moving the park offices into the soon-to-be vacant Naval Armory on Lake Shore Drive at the Franklin Street bridge.

The state decided last year to get rid of the building and city officials were interested in taking control of it. Oberlie said, however, while there may still be interest in the building, it's likely not to become a home for the parks department.

"I don't believe the armory is in play right now," he said. "We're looking to build a bathhouse and concession stand at the beach and it makes sense to put (the office) there. Right now the space needs at both facilities are being analyzed and hopefully soon we'll have design footprints and estimated costs."



Contact Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.



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JHeath
post Mar 3 2008, 02:26 PM
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QUOTE(southsider2k7 @ Mar 3 2008, 02:06 PM) *

And the parks department office - built as a bathhouse in the first half of the 20th Century - is falling apart. According to city councilman and former Park Board President Joe Doyle, it is no longer adequate.

"They just need new space," Doyle said. "There's so much that goes on in here and the building just isn't good for that any more."
.....
The state decided last year to get rid of the building and city officials were interested in taking control of it. Oberlie said, however, while there may still be interest in the building, it's likely not to become a home for the parks department.

"I don't believe the armory is in play right now," he said. "We're looking to build a bathhouse and concession stand at the beach and it makes sense to put (the office) there. Right now the space needs at both facilities are being analyzed and hopefully soon we'll have design footprints and estimated costs."

History repeats itself?

This post has been edited by JHeath: Mar 3 2008, 02:27 PM
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Dave
post Mar 3 2008, 09:33 PM
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I think the Police and Park Departments would fit quite well into the Super City Hall-Nart.

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lovethiscity
post Mar 4 2008, 12:05 AM
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QUOTE(Dave @ Mar 3 2008, 09:33 PM) *

I think the Police and Park Departments would fit quite well into the Super City Hall-Nart.

Could we not find something in Otis or Westville for Mayor Oberlie's office? Is there an abandoned Wal-Nart out there?
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edgeywood
post Mar 4 2008, 03:57 PM
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QUOTE(Dave @ Mar 3 2008, 09:33 PM) *

I think the Police and Park Departments would fit quite well into the Super City Hall-Nart.



City Hall Nart...has a nice ring to it!
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Southsider2k12
post Mar 5 2008, 08:00 AM
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QUOTE(Dave @ Mar 3 2008, 09:33 PM) *

I think the Police and Park Departments would fit quite well into the Super City Hall-Nart.


I think this might be a joke, but I say, why not? They obviously need more space, and we have existing buildings all over town that are sitting empty because the business cycle has moved on for these companies. Instead of sticking the taxpayers for two new buildings in an area that should a beautiful public access point calling attention to our crowning jewel of a lakefront.

I'd love to see Mayor Oberlie save the MC taxpayers money, especially (in my opinion) there are budget clouds on the horizon both from state cuts in property tax caps, and Blue Chip funding cuts. Its a waste of money when so much utilitarian space exists all over town.
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Ecotourist
post Mar 5 2008, 09:21 AM
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Why must the Police and Park Department occupy MC's prime real estate? The Washington Park area does not need more municipal buildings.

If the Police and Park Department need new office space, then shouldn't they be located where we need redevelopment? Why not put the Park Headquarters in Franklin Square and split the Police Stations to the east and west sides?

If Park Department business were conducted out of the Warren Building, then all the businesses in that area would see more foot traffic and more profit. From there, the Park Board could still watch the sun set at 5:00, and the top floor would be a great place for their proposed taxpayer subsidized restaurant.

For obvious reasons, police presence needs to be in the neighborhoods. How about two locations on the most blighted parcels that the City inherited from the County, one on the East Side and one on the West? The location at the entrance to Washington Park makes no sense at all for the Police Station.

ET
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JHeath
post Mar 5 2008, 10:03 AM
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If the north end is redeveloped as planned, Franklin Square will also become prime property in the City.
Especially if Franklin is opened up all the way to the lakefront.

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Ang
post Mar 5 2008, 10:08 AM
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ET, you have an excellent idea. Actually, City Hall-Nart could move to the Warren Bldg, too. Lord knows it's big enough.


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Southsider2k12
post Mar 5 2008, 02:22 PM
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http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=55553.45

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Police Station Site Valuable; Sell It
Most of us long-time residents of Michigan City have been sitting back and watching with interest as our city leaders are moving forward with North End redevelopment. However the announcement that the new city police station will be rebuilt at its current location has spurred a very bad taste in my mouth.

City leaders in their infinite wisdom have used eminent domain to gain possession of properties that previously were never on the radar screen until Blue Chip and "River Walk" was a creation of numerous studies costing the taxpayers of this city huge dollars. We have also used hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars to buy and relocate public housing, and private business for city gains that have yet to be seen or defined to the property taxpayers of this city.

Anyone who lived here in the 60s watched this city redevelop the North End and downtown without success. Properties were taken over by eminent domain, torn down and the properties sat vacant for years. The only buildings worth the sand that they are built on are city and federal buildings currently in use. If our leaders are being truthful with us, and if our North End is the jewel of Lake Michigan, as we keep hearing, then can someone please tell me why the police station, which is sitting on prime North End property, should NOT be sold and used for the redevelopment?

Why are we not looking at moving the police station to the populated center of the city with easier access to everyone?

The mayor mentioned [former Mayor Sheila Brillson] Sheila's fire station reconfiguration and training center visions coming to fruition. Every one of those moves put the fire stations in strategic locations for quick access to emergency situations. Why are we not doing the same thing with the police station?

Who is going to belly up to the bar and bring the citizens of Michigan City up to speed on our future? Whom should we trust? What is this going to cost and when will it be completed? Should the rest of us start packing our bags because property values are going deeper into the Dumpster at a higher taxation?

Could someone break the silence and enlighten the citizens of the real direction of this city?

Jim Curry

Michigan City
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Dave
post Mar 5 2008, 04:35 PM
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QUOTE(southsider2k7 @ Mar 5 2008, 08:00 AM) *

I think this might be a joke, but I say, why not? They obviously need more space, and we have existing buildings all over town that are sitting empty because the business cycle has moved on for these companies. Instead of sticking the taxpayers for two new buildings in an area that should a beautiful public access point calling attention to our crowning jewel of a lakefront.

I'd love to see Mayor Oberlie save the MC taxpayers money, especially (in my opinion) there are budget clouds on the horizon both from state cuts in property tax caps, and Blue Chip funding cuts. Its a waste of money when so much utilitarian space exists all over town.


Actually, I started it as a joke, but the concept is growing on me. If it makes sense for companies to build new for tax reasons (depeciation, etc.), buying and rehabbing existing building makes sense for non-taxed bodies like city governments, as rehabbing would seem to me to often be cheaper than building new. Not to mention the whole process is "greener." Rehabbing an existing building has to have less impact on the environment than either building new or tearing down and building new.

And I see no need for city hall, the police department, or the parks department offices to be on the north end or in Washington Park. I imagine the Parks department may need some kind of structure at Washington Park for garaging vehicles needed for park maintainence, but the folks who are sitting at desks don't need to be there.
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mcstumper
post Mar 5 2008, 07:32 PM
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What about the old Chrysler dealership building at 11th and the Blvd? Roomy, has a garage facility where they could service squad cars, and it would increase police visibility in both Elston Grove and on the Blvd.


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lovethiscity
post Mar 7 2008, 06:48 AM
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QUOTE(mcstumper @ Mar 5 2008, 07:32 PM) *

What about the old Chrysler dealership building at 11th and the Blvd? Roomy, has a garage facility where they could service squad cars, and it would increase police visibility in both Elston Grove and on the Blvd.

Even better, why not put City Hall and the Police Department by the excisting Central Service Building where they maintain the sqad cars.
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Ang
post Mar 7 2008, 09:43 AM
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QUOTE(lovethiscity @ Mar 7 2008, 05:48 AM) *

Even better, why not put City Hall and the Police Department by the excisting Central Service Building where they maintain the sqad cars.


Isn't that on Kentucky & Russell Sts? I don't think that would be a good location. I still like the Warren Bldg. for that. All the city departments could go in there and it could be a "City Government Complex--one stop shopping for all your polictical needs."


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