Gary, Notre Dame announce partnership to revitalize downtown

GARY, Ind. — The City of Gary and the University of Notre Dame announced a partnership Tuesday aimed at creating a master plan for their downtown revitalization project.

It will begin with a series of community listening sessions followed by a weeklong public urban planning session.

“This partnership is a unique opportunity to create a new master plan for our great city. We’re excited to begin this work with the support of a world class educational institution like Notre Dame,” said Mayor Eddie Melton. “Thanks to the passage of Indiana SB 434 in 2023, we have been able to jump start Downtown Gary’s revitalization with $12M of blight elimination. Moving forward, we want to make sure that we are very intentional about what we decide to rebuild. This partnership will equip our community with tools to envision a sustainable plan for development that brings opportunities for businesses and residents to thrive in the heart of downtown.”

The Housing & Community Regeneration Initiative began in 2021 and the University of Notre Dame is seeking to partner with communities within a 100-mile radius.

“The process that we have honed through partnerships with LaPorte, Kalamazoo and Elkhart, among other communities, allows us to inspire a plan to bring opportunities to Gary that have been unrealized until now by listening to community members and leadership, then translating the needs into a prioritized, actionable set of steps toward them,” said Stefanos Polyzoides, Dean of the Notre Dame School of Architecture.

The scope of work includes developing a vision and implementation plan for the regeneration of downtown Gary, creating a set of design standards for the Broadway corridor, developing a series of design templates for workforce housing units and commercial spaces, as well as developing a concept design for the new Intermodal Transit Facility.

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