Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro was in Gary this morning meeting with local officials and checking out the ongoing demolition of the abandoned Sheraton Hotel. HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency, the City of Gary and the Regional Development Authority have all partnered to fund the removal of the longstanding eyesore.
Secretary Castro said the demolition project was the kind of catalytic efforts HUD supports in order to revitalize communities and create jobs. You can watch a video of his opening remarks here. More photos are on our Facebook page here.
This is just one example of the RDA leveraging federal funding to improve Northwest Indiana. Other projects include partnerships with the EPA on stormwater mitigation and environmental cleanup in Miller and brownfields assessment and remediation in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago. Over the next decade, we plan to partner with the Federal Transit Administration to build the West Lake Corridor. This extension of the South Shore commuter rail line will take more than 5,000 riders to high-paying jobs in Chicago every day. They will bring back nearly $150 million in annual income to spend here in Northwest Indiana, an economic boost that will add nearly 2,000 non-commuter jobs in the region.
For more information, check out NICTD's brand-new web site at www.nictdwestlake.com.
