Hammond residents are getting a clearer look at plans to build housing in Memorial Park. The project would include a senior living facility on the north end of the property, four duplexes on the east end, and 28 single family homes on the rest of it. Infrastructure will be funded with federal American Rescue Plan money, while the developer of the senior living facility is seeking financing through the state.
Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. held a meeting Thursday at the nearby Ophelia Steen Center to show residents the final plan before the city "pulls the trigger." He said the goal is to attract new residents, but also to keep current residents in the neighborhood.
"The neighborhood's great," McDermott said. "The neighbors who own their homes and a lot of people want to stay here, and there's not a lot of upward mobility for homes or even downward mobility for homes. But this gives us new options."
When it comes to the single-family homes, the city plans to follow the same development method it used for the former Clark High School athletic fields and sell them at auction. McDermott expects there to be a lot of interest from buyers, but if there isn't, he said the city is prepared to develop homes itself.
"We're not going to let it sit idle. I promise you. If I have to build it myself, we'll do it — not me, I promise you. I'm not very good at that. But we'll buy it. We'll hire people that know what they're doing," McDermott told residents.
There was little outright opposition to the overall project, but there was some concern about its impact on the area's narrow streets. City Engineer Dean Button said consultants believe the existing streets could handle the additional traffic, and Mayor McDermott noted that widening streets could lead to higher speeds. Another resident suggested the city explore creating a "quiet zone" along the nearby railroad tracks, after someone questioned the idea of building a senior living facility right next to a noisy crossing.
Going forward, the infrastructure work is expected to start next year, while the plan commission will consider the necessary subdivision and rezoning approvals. The land auction could take place in late spring or early summer of 2025. Construction on the senior living facility could start in 2026.
But discussion of the project itself was often overshadowed by McDermott's ongoing argument with the director of the Ophilia Steen Center, Albertine Dent, after she said the city could have done a better job of promoting Thursday's meeting. A suggestion that McDermott should apologize to Dent prompted him to complain that Dent should not have made him feel unwelcome at the facility. He also suggested that she should have promoted the event herself. McDermott ended the meeting shortly after that.
