THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION.
Plans to build and create a sports complex on the grounds of the Water Department on East North Street are moving forward.
Acting City Engineer Jeff Ban told the combined meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety and the Parks Department on Wednesday night that the conversion to Lake Michigan water should be completed by May l, opening up that acreage to development.
Once the lime is removed, work will begin on an aggressive skate-boarding park and an outdoor roller hockey rink. Both are to be completed this spring, according to Parks Superintendent Betty Wells. A baseball field may also be developed in the first phase.
The city is working closely with the school corporation so the new high school will coordinate with what the city is offering. 'We need to complement their program,' Mayor James Metros said.
A special meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 15, in the City Council Chambers when the youth of the city can give their input into the plans for the project. Included in the 1999 budget is $250,000 for this sports complex.
'We've got to start to do something for our kids,' Metros said. 'We need to send our young people the message that we want them (to stay) here.'
Also, city sewer and water lines will be extended to the girls softball fields off 113th Avenue. The lines back up to the Water Department property.
In a related matter, Metros announced that the bike trail from 93rd Avenue south will not follow the railway right of way as planned. Instead, the path will come south to the north border of Liberty Park and go west to White Hawk Country Club and to Beaver Dam Ditch. This, too, has a $250,000 price tag.
And the Board of Works approved a contract for $63,500 with Gough Construction Inc. of Crown Point to put a new floor in the Hub Pool. There was $80,000 in the 1999 budget for pool repairs.
Finally, Main Street from 93rd Avenue on the north to Burrell Drive (West 125th Avenue) on the south will have the honorary name of Jerry Ross Parkway. Metros said the change would not require new addresses.
Ross, who has been an astronaut on several space missions, will be in the city April 17 and 18, and a proclamation will be presented to him at a community gathering on April 18 in the auditorium of Crown Point High School. THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION.
