The Marquette Project

Congressman Peter J. Visclosky
Public Officials Seminar
June 3-4, 1985
Washington, DC

Four generations ago, our ancestors transformed Northwest Indiana into one of the world’s premier industrial and manufacturing centers. Their success was captured by Carl Sandburg, who wrote of the redness of our skies and the sweat of our workers. Both were worn with pride as economic opportunity expanded. Opportunity was created by a generation with a vision of the future; a generation that relished in taking risks.

The moment was seized by those arriving in Northwest Indiana who saw that change was possible because the landscape was ripe for heavy industrial development. Huge expanses of cheap and unused acreage, open shoreland, abundant water, and a developed rail system met their dreams.

Then the current of history began to flow against their descendants. Finally, the promise of economic opportunity was broken because of a refusal to break the patterns of the past into which we had become crystallized. Together, we must now break those patterns and weave a new fabric to regenerate our land and our people.

As that first generation took advantage of the physical characteristics of Northwest Indiana to create a new life, so must our generation change the physical characteristics of our area so that our physical landscape again enhances economic opportunity and no longer impedes it.

Nearly 50 percent of our lakeshore is locked away from public usage by industrial sites. Decades of poor planning have filled in flood plains and stressed our natural drainage systems. Careless, and at times criminal, misuse of our resources has poisoned land, air, and water. A radical physical change is needed to again put us in an advantageous position for economic diversification and growth.

What I offer today is an outline for such a transformation: A vision of Northwest Indiana for the 21st century that establishes the quality of life for each citizen as our number one priority. The key to this proposal, which I have named The Marquette Project, is the recapturing of our lakeshore for public use.

By the end of this century, let us make available for public use, 75 percent of our lakeshore. Let us do so by creating new and imaginative ways to open our greatest natural asset to the public.

As steel continues to be made by a reconfigured industry in smaller, more efficient and safer facilities, let the public sector join with the private to recapture – at least initially – a narrow strip to the north of our great industrial complex. Then as attrition occurs naturally later in this century and in the next; and as the mills age and technology changes; where sites are unused and rail yards are abandoned, let us take quick steps to reclaim them for the public.

This does not mean that no new industry will locate on the lakeshore, but it does mean that we should set our priorities in a clear and definite manner. Any new industrial facility wishing to locate on the lakeshore must demonstrate the following:

1. That they must locate on the lake out of necessity and that they cannot locate elsewhere. This means that we encourage industrial development away from the lakeshore and do not tolerate uses such as disposal sites, storage facilities, and other activities that have no practical reason for being located on the lakeshore.
2. If a facility is located on the lake, it must ensure that the facility can coexist with other public land uses.

The map that has been prepared to illustrate this proposal has been drawn in broad strokes. It concentrated primarily on the lakeshore with two primary zones in mind:

1. The first zone running north of U.S. 12 should contain areas with priority given to natural preservation, recreation, recreational use, and compatible residential and commercial development.
2. The second zone, running north of U.S. 20 up to U.S. 12, should contain areas where increased emphasis is placed on compatible commercial and residential use.

New, industrial, manufacturing and other employers should be situated to the south.

With this in mind, the map we have prepared has been divided into four areas:

1. Mixed Use: These areas are dedicated to high public use and development including compatible industrial use. We recommend that as existing facilities change naturally through attrition, appropriate areas should be captured for the public.
2. Low Impact: These are areas left natural with allowance made for low impact recreational use such as beach houses, picnic tables and boat launch areas. These areas include parkland, natural habitat areas, and food plans.
3. Industrial Corridors: These are areas reserved for heavy industrial, commercial and transportation use including mills, harbors, rail yards, power plants, warehouses and so forth.
4. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

I caution that this map reflects a long-term vision to be achieved after years of transition. However, I want to begin recapturing our lakeshore for our people to use as soon as possible, even if in some areas the recovered land is a strip so narrow it is measured in feet. It is imperative that all future decisions be made with this goal and the public’s interest in mind.

Regarding highways, we should pursue the extension of Lake Shore Drive to Indiana with links to U.S. 12 so that we can provide a true lakeshore drive, a parkway that stretches from Chicago to the State of Michigan.

Concerning railroads, we hope to achieve a consolidation of lines, divided between through-rail traffic and local switching. A number of abandoned and underutilized lines could be pulled off the lake, with industrial areas to be served by limited spur lines. Another goal would be the continued development of separation between rail lines and roads. By developing a prioritized list of lines that will continue, we can better protect the taxpayer investment in costly bridges and overpasses. We should also secure abandoned right-of-ways for future commuter lines.

Sweeping changes will not come overnight. Nor can they be dictated by one person or one governmental body. We in Northwest Indiana must sit together as a unified community and reach a consensus on our future. We need to establish firm priorities and we need to adhere to them in all our decisions whether they be changes in zoning, ordinance, major development, plans, or improved government operations.

Let us set the physical stage on which the players in economic development can tell our story proudly. In so doing, let us always remember that what we do is not for one company, one city, or one class of people.

As public officials, let us ensure that as we weave the fabric of change, it is made strong with the threads of justice.

At the beginning of my remarks, I spoke of Sandburg’s poetry – of red skies and sweat. Carl Sandburg also wrote of dreams. Let us dream – not to survive, but to succeed.