Hammond residents and officials marked the opening of the new boardwalk and bike trail at Wolf Lake in a ceremony on the new span this afternoon. “This is one of the most unique bike trails I’ve ever seen,” said Hammond mayor and cyclist Tom McDermott. The new trail, which runs along a formerly inaccessible portion of Wolf Lake next to the Indiana Toll Road, combines a blacktop path laid on a NIPSCO right-of-way with a 1,200-foot boardwalk over part of the lake itself. This part of the trail will in turn be connected to the Illinois trail system later this year.
The new connection is part of the more than $50 million in improvements at Wolf Lake over the past several years. Other new features include the Pavilion, a new conservatory, a splash pad and a makeover of Forsythe Park. All of the improvements were fueled by a grant of more than $30 million from the Regional Development Authority. “This was a partnership between the city, the Hammond Port Authority and the RDA,” the mayor said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
“Without implementation, a visionary runs the risk of being called just a dreamer,” said Bill Hanna, President and CEO of the RDA. “The City of Hammond is fortunate to have someone in Mayor McDermott who can do both. This is a compelling gateway to Chicago and he has done a fabulous job.”
View more photos from the event, visit the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority'a RDA Transformation Blog.
