QUOTE
Meer to pursue North End measure
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
Third-Ward Michigan City Councilman Ron Meer will introduce a resolution at tonight's City Council meeting that addresses an area of North End redevelopment the West Side resident said hasn't been discussed.
“There's a big chunk of that lakefront that's wasted and, with all the talk about North End redevelopment, I think this fits,” Meer said Monday. “I think it's feasible to look at this as a possibility.”
Meer's resolution will ask representatives from the city park department and other city offices to study, along with NIPSCO, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the National Park Service and any other interested party - the feasibility of a pedestrian walkway from the city's West Side to Lake Michigan between Mount Baldy and the NIPSCO power plant.
He said residents on the city's West Side need a safe way to reach Lake Michigan by foot. The plan could include a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 12.
Meer also said the area could be turned into a retail spot, possibly with a restaurant, and be part of the city's long-talked-about North End redevelopment plans.
The park department last year introduced a five-year master plan for Washington Park that included a private restaurant on the beach. The plan was met with much public opposition.
Meer hopes the department puts his walkway plan into its overall parks master plan.
“I think it should be a part of that plan,” he said. “(The park department and the mayor) have been receptive, so I think we've got a chance.”
“They always talk about developing the North End. People say this is the West Side, but it's also the Northwest Side.”
To make his plan work, Meer said, the city likely will have to buy or be deeded land on the lakefront, which now is not used much. Meer said he isn't yet sure who owns the land, be it the national park or NIPSCO.
He called the strip of land “nearly inaccessible to residents,” and is pitching a “simple walkway, or a pedestrian bridge.”
The council is scheduled to vote on the resolution tonight at its 7:30 p.m. meeting.
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
Third-Ward Michigan City Councilman Ron Meer will introduce a resolution at tonight's City Council meeting that addresses an area of North End redevelopment the West Side resident said hasn't been discussed.
“There's a big chunk of that lakefront that's wasted and, with all the talk about North End redevelopment, I think this fits,” Meer said Monday. “I think it's feasible to look at this as a possibility.”
Meer's resolution will ask representatives from the city park department and other city offices to study, along with NIPSCO, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the National Park Service and any other interested party - the feasibility of a pedestrian walkway from the city's West Side to Lake Michigan between Mount Baldy and the NIPSCO power plant.
He said residents on the city's West Side need a safe way to reach Lake Michigan by foot. The plan could include a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 12.
Meer also said the area could be turned into a retail spot, possibly with a restaurant, and be part of the city's long-talked-about North End redevelopment plans.
The park department last year introduced a five-year master plan for Washington Park that included a private restaurant on the beach. The plan was met with much public opposition.
Meer hopes the department puts his walkway plan into its overall parks master plan.
“I think it should be a part of that plan,” he said. “(The park department and the mayor) have been receptive, so I think we've got a chance.”
“They always talk about developing the North End. People say this is the West Side, but it's also the Northwest Side.”
To make his plan work, Meer said, the city likely will have to buy or be deeded land on the lakefront, which now is not used much. Meer said he isn't yet sure who owns the land, be it the national park or NIPSCO.
He called the strip of land “nearly inaccessible to residents,” and is pitching a “simple walkway, or a pedestrian bridge.”
The council is scheduled to vote on the resolution tonight at its 7:30 p.m. meeting.