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Thursday, June 01, 2006

Ind. Gov't. - Dunes Inn idea is a bust - no bids received; more

The Gary Post-Tribune reports today, in a story by Diane Krieger Spivak:

It looks like private investors won’t be building a hotel at Indiana Dunes State Park.

But that doesn’t mean the state won’t look into putting one up.

By Wednesday’s 1 p.m. deadline, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources had not received any requests for proposals for lodging at the park, said DNR Director Kyle Hupfer.

“Unless something turns up in a mailroom somewhere, it is safe to say we have gotten no proposals,” Hupfer said.

Local environmentalists were happy but cautious at the news.

Tom Anderson, executive director of the Save the Dunes Council, said he felt public outcry played a role in the lack of proposals from developers.

“My opinion is that public response and concerns over this proposal made any prospective developers realize this was a no-win situation,” Anderson said.

Since Hupfer announced in January the DNR’s plans to build a hotel on an auxiliary parking lot west of the Dunes Pavilion, environmental groups have mounted a campaign against the plan, arguing it would be a threat to the dunes’ unique ecology. * * *

The DNR will now turn its attention to looking at the feasibility of building and running its own lodge as it does at six other state parks.

“I want to see a better financial study if we would do it ourselves,” Hupfer said.

He said a public hearing would also be conducted this year to get input on the issue.

The hotel would have to at least break even each year, which, Hupfer said, is not something that worries him with the level of visitation at the Dunes State Park. * * *

The DNR put out a request for proposals about a year ago for Potato Creek and Versailles state parks and received none. A request for proposals for those parks also went out this year with the Dunes proposal. The DNR received no proposals for any of the three. * * *

Bill Wellman, senior vice president of Whiteco Industries, and vice chairman of the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau board, which supported the plan, said the venture would not be profitable.

“It’s pretty hard to open a new hotel and do everything first class for 100 rooms and make it work financially,” Wellman said Wednesday.

“It’s pretty quiet up there through the winter months for a business that small,” he said. “It’s been a political football as well,” he added, referring to the opposition the proposal has generated.

Both the Lake and Porter county tourism bureaus have formally supported the idea, although the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission expressed its concern over the location so close to the beach.

My thoughts. No businesses bid because they judged the venture not profitable. So why would the State now want to go ahead and build an inn with taxpayers' money?

Here is the report from the Munster (NW Indiana) Times, by Matthew Van Dusen, headlined "Deadline passes, no Dunes hotel bids: State to rethink privatization plan, DNR might build own facility:"

Indiana Department of Natural Resources officials were surprised and environmentalists were relieved on Wednesday as the deadline for proposals to build a hotel at Indiana Dunes State Park passed without a single submission.

Department Director Kyle Hupfer said the state DNR will consider whether it should ask again for private proposals, put the idea on hold or build its own Dunes hotel.

Tom Anderson, executive director of Save the Dunes Council, said he expects future proposals to develop public land on the Dunes, but he was pleased with Wednesday's news.

"It wasn't a defeat," said Anderson.

In January, Hupfer proposed putting privately built hotels at the Dunes, Potato Creek State Park and Versailles State Park. He said the 100-room, 87,000-square-foot hotel would be built on previously disturbed land and it would add needed lodging to the area.

Save the Dunes literature countered there is no need for a hotel and its construction would lead to a loss of animal habitat and open space and a commercialization of public land. A group of local residents called Duneland First, a coalition of Chicago birding groups and others also opposed the hotel.

Hupfer said on Wednesday he had heard developers were interested and couldn't explain why there were no proposals for any of the three sites. He added that of the three sites, the Dunes is the strongest because of its location and attendance of about 700,000 visitors a year.

Take back the beach. Meanwhile, on a related topic, here is an encouraging report from the Chesterton Tribune, headlined "Portage getting public beach thanks to the federal government." Some quotes:
The first project of the Marquette Plan is officially underway.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday for a new Portage lakefront park that will be developed jointly by the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the city of Portage.

The 66-acre beachfront park was previously part of the former Midwest Steel plant and was purchased in 2004 by the National Park Service. Through a cooperative agreement, Portage will develop and maintain a city beach on the national park property.

The new park, located on the west side of Burns Waterway, will include interpretive trails, a scenic overlook and an interpretive overlook. The park itself is part of a more ambitious project that includes a riverwalk along Burns Waterway and links with an expanded public marina, the city’s downtown, and the South Shore train station. In addition, the project includes a trail linkage between the east and west units of the National Lakeshore. * * *

Chuck Brimmer, a Visclosky staffer, said the Portage park project meets all the Marquette Plan’s criteria by both preserving green space and by opening the lakefront for public use.

Brimmer said that just as no one can imagine Chicago without Lake Shore Drive or New York City without Central Park, “one day you will not be able to think of Northwest Indiana without the Marquette Plan and its open spaces.” * * *

Brimmer said Visclosky continues to work with the other Marquette Plan’s projects, but that the next one that appears ready to go forward is in the city of Whiting, in which the lakefront park will be improved and expanded.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 1, 2006 08:32 AM
Posted to Environmental Issues | Indiana Government