Gary preservation movement reaches important fundraising milestone

While Gary, Indiana—Chicago’s industrial neighbor to the south—has struggled with the economic shockwaves of factory shutdowns and population loss, there’s been growing interest in appreciating and preserving the city’s historic downtown. A renewed effort to revive interest in some of Gary’s most architecturally significant vacant buildings reached an important fundraising milestone last week.

Hitting its funding goal of $7,500 on Friday, the Gary Redevelopment Commission will now receive matching money from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. The funds will be used to clean up some of Gary’s threatened abandoned sites and help fund an upcoming series of free historic walking tours. Specifically, Gary’s First Methodist Church and its New Deal-era post office will be cleared of dangerous debris and properly secured.

A portion of the money will also go towards beautification efforts such as hanging new banners downtown along Broadway. It is hoped that the tours will raise awareness about Gary’s forgotten architectural gems and possibly serve as a catalyst for future adaptive reuse and redevelopment.

To learn more about this effort visit the Gary Preservation Tours crowd-granting website and take a gander at the video below.

• Gary Preservation Tour [official website]
• Effort to preserve Gary architecture gaining momentum [Curbed Chicago]