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Regional Development Authority official updates council on Westlake Corridor, blight program and convention-center proposals
Summary
Randy Palmateer, vice chair of the Regional Development Authority, briefed the Lake County Council on the status of large RDA projects including the Westlake Corridor and blight elimination program and emphasized the RDA’s role as fiscal agent.
Randy Palmateer, vice chairman of the Regional Development Authority, told the Lake County Council the RDA is close to completing major regional transportation projects and has secured funding for a neighborhood blight elimination program.
Palmateer said the Westlake Corridor rail project — cited in council materials as an $852 million project linking Hammond and Dyer — was listed in the RDA packet as 84% complete but is closer to 95% complete, based on updated figures he provided. He also described a double-track project listed at $643 million as nearly finished.
The RDA vice chairman highlighted a blight elimination program that secured roughly $12–13 million for demolition of vacant houses in Gary; about 50 properties were targeted, and the RDA matched state funding on the program. Palmateer said owners of 34 targeted properties accepted the opportunity to rehabilitate, while the remaining properties were demolished.
Palmateer described the RDA’s role as primarily fiscal: the authority holds and disburses funds but does not itself select convention-center sites or hire municipal contractors. He said site selection and project permitting remain responsibilities of the municipalities and county commissioners as defined in state legislation establishing the RDA’s role as fiscal agent.
On the Lake County Convention Center, Palmateer said proposals had been received from Gary and Hobart and noted public misconceptions that the RDA controls site selection; he reiterated that the county commissioners, per state law, handle such decisions.
Council members asked about expanding RDA investment beyond lakeshore and transit corridors to other parts of the region and about financial support for transit operators; Palmateer said the RDA has discussed broader regional measures and that surface transportation is a pillar of the authority’s work, including support for Gary Airport and transit services.
Palmateer offered to distribute the RDA strategic plan and to refer detailed operational questions to the RDA director.
No action was required; the item was an informational briefing.
