Just a few weeks after service began on the South Shore Line’s new Monon Corridor, ground was broken Thursday on a new $10 million station to serve downtown Hammond.
The station, funded by the city’s 1% food and beverage tax, is expected to be completed by late next year.
“If we are serious about downtown Hammond, we have to have a station in downtown Hammond,” Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. The station plays a key role in the city’s plans to revitalize the downtown.
“Not long ago, we stood together to celebrate the opening of the Monon Corridor, a transformational investment that expanded the South Shore Line and changed the trajectory of our region,” he said.
“Today, we build on that momentum. Because this isn’t just another ribbon-cutting. This is proof that the investment is already delivering results.”
The new station will join two new stations that began service as a result of the $945 million Monon Corridor extension of South Shore Line service to Dyer. The Hammond Gateway station is a mile north of the new downtown station being built, and the Hammond South station is about two miles south.
“Think about that. Three stations, one city, all connected to opportunity,” McDermott said.
He credited the officials who voted for the food and beverage tax that is paying for the new station, among other major developments in the city.
“These aren’t the kinds of issues that get you votes, passing these kinds of taxes,” McDermott said. But when the projects come to fruition, people see it was worth it, he said. “So it wasn’t an easy vote, but it was the right vote.”
New Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District President David Dech noted the station’s proximity to 18th Street Brewery. “Putting a station next to a brewery almost guarantees that I will come and contribute to your food and beverage tax. That’s a promise I can make.”
Dech’s first month on the job has been momentous, seeing the opening of the Monon Corridor service and now the groundbreaking for the downtown Hammond station.
“We are breaking ground not only on a station, but also on the next chapter in the incredible resurgence of Hammond, Indiana. Standing here in the heart of downtown Hammond, we are seeing a vision of connectivity finally become a reality,” he said.
“The South Shore Line has always been about moving people. But today, we are about to build a train station and help anchor future development and move this community forward. This new station is at the center of what was dreamed of, planned for, and worked on, and developed for many, many years in creating transit-oriented development,” Dech said.
The Banc, a residential conversion of the former Calumet Bank building, is within a short walk of the new station. “This project is a ringing endorsement of what can happen when you pair high-quality housing and accessible commuter rail,” Dech said. “It sets a gold standard, proving that if we build the infrastructure, the investments, the people will follow.”
“This is exactly what these investments are supposed to do,” McDermott said. “They create access, they create movement, and most importantly, they create opportunities. And here in Hammond, we’re not waiting around for that opportunity. We’re taking advantage of it.”
“This new downtown station is about more than just transportation. It’s about development. It’s about density. It’s about bringing people back to the heart of our city,” he said. “And the market is noticing, guys. Developers are noticing, businesses are noticing, investors are noticing.”
“Great infrastructure doesn’t just serve today. It opens the door for tomorrow and all the possibilities of tomorrow,” he said.
Northwest Indiana Forum President and CEO Heather Ennis credited McDermott and his team for hiring world-renowned downtown planner Jeff Speck. “We know that behind every visionary leader is a strong team that helps bring things to fruition,” she said.
Speck’s vision for a walkable downtown is becoming a reality.
“Northwest Indiana is on the rise. You can feel it in the air,” Ennis said.
No discussion of Hammond nowadays is complete without mentioning the city’s plan to build a stadium for the Chicago Bears.
The Monon Corridor and the city’s partnership with the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority have positioned Hammond as “one of the premier spaces to live, work and enjoy life,” RDA President and CEO Sherri Ziller said.
That partnership includes building the Wolf Lake pavilion at what Ziller asserts will be “the future of the Chicago Bears.”
“We know the Hammond Gateway site has the potential to deliver something just as transformative” as The Franklin, a $101 million mixed-use development that has a symbiotic relationship with the South Shore Line’s new 11th Street Station in downtown Michigan City, Ziller said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
