Almost $6.7 million in federal funding is coming to Gary. U.S. Representative Frank Mrvan and Mayor Jerome Prince touted the funding during a press conference Wednesday.
The biggest chunk — $3.5 million — is going to the Gary Sanitary District. Prince said it will let the district expand a force main, reducing the risk of flooding for current residents while creating capacity for future development.
"The more water that we're able to divert to the wastewater plant means less contaminated water going to our Lake Michigan area," Prince explained.
Meanwhile, $2 million will be used to help the Gary/Chicago International Airport purchase new firefighting and snow removal equipment, and $682,000 will go toward Gary's portion of the Marquette Greenway Trail. Representative Mrvan said that money will be used to help with engineering costs to expand the trail from Bridge Street west to Cline Avenue.
"Ultimately, what we have to envision is it is economic development, so it is a connector. It's a connector from Chicago all around the Great Lakes to bring people in from across the country," Mrvan said.
The Gary Police Department will get half a million dollars for technology upgrades. Chief Brian Evens said he'd like to expand the availability of mobile data terminals — computers officers can use in their police cars — while Mayor Prince said another goal is a real-time data center.
Mrvan said that the projects are bringing not just money into Gary — but more importantly, hope. "When people re-imagine Gary, they're thinking now public safety. They are thinking economic development. They're thinking quality of life, the utilization of our resources when it comes to Lake Michigan," Mrvan added.
Prince said the projects are examples of his efforts to create cleaner, safer neighborhoods that benefit everyone.
