Entertainment complex considered for NIPSCO site in Michigan City
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Merrillville-based Northern Indiana Public Service Co. is planning to decommission its Michigan City Generating Station by 2028, and city officials are already considering what the future of the lakefront site will be.
Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report officials have been discussing a redevelopment plan that could include an entertainment complex, hotels and an expanded gateway to the Indiana Dunes National Park.
“With the NIPSCO site, I really want to see public access. I don’t want to see residential there but I think it would be a good opportunity for public access and maybe an entertainment complex,” Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch told the publication. “With NIPSCO closing in 2028, we don’t know what the possibilities are for that site yet.”
Ideas for an entertainment complex include a Ferris wheel or similar attraction, music venue, comedy club, and a business akin to a Dave and Busters location.
The Michigan City Generating Station sits on a 120-acre property, which longtime economic development leader Don Babcock said is the last large piece of land available right on the lake right next to the national park.
“Frankly, it’s in a great spot,” Babcock told The Times. “There just isn’t that kind of land available that isn’t already in a park. That’s another advantage of it being industrial previously. It’s already been disturbed. You would hope that a future development site that wasn’t totally focused on the environment would be acceptable and something we can all be proud of.”
Michigan City Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Clarence Hulse said the site includes a beach that would most likely be open to the public and could potentially become part of the national park.
“The goal would definitely be the build a new location for people to gather and stay here for a weekend, or at least two or three hours. It would add more commerce, taxes and hotels,” he said. “It would be a huge undertaking, but we could definitely draw visitors from not just Indiana but Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. It has the potential for multiple hotels and venues for entertainment that will bring more visitors.”
Many details would still need to be ironed out, the publication reported, including which buildings would be demolished, as well as environmental remediation at the site.
You can read the full story from Joseph S. Pete by clicking here.