6D(1)Proposal_Ignition Park_2010-11-01

Home Browse Search

25 November 2010 Geri Hathaway c/o Innovation Park at Notre Dame 1400 E. Angela Blvd. South Bend, IN 46697 Re: Ignition Park South Bend, IN Dear Geri: In a recent email, you outlined that amongst other things, the primary mission of Ignition Park is to "...focus on economic development that results in job creation and tax revenue generation." And you are right; this can only be accomplished if sustainable businesses grow out of the initiatives and buildings this Park is built around. Likewise, as you have mentioned, Notre Dame must play a key role in the development of this Park and its businesses. Below is a list of goals we heard you outline that are paramount in supporting the aforementioned mission of Ignition Park: ✓ Nurturing environment for local businesses to grow through innovation and technological advances ✓ A location for graduates of Innovation Park ✓ Location for national businesses seeking close relationships with the University of Notre Dame and /or proximity to support services in the region ✓ Create a "Cradle to Grave" hub for entrepreneurship and education ✓ Re- educate the unemployed workforce in and around South Bend ✓ Engage multiple local educational Partners as key stakeholders in the Park (i.e. University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, Indiana University, Ivy Tech) You also expressed the desire for this Park to create a campus -like setting of high technology buildings and spaces to support high technology businesses, education, and potentially facilities to support Notre Dame's and other businesses' research investigation needs. This Park should create a destination at the end of a corridor that links South Bend's technology assets to Innovation Park. I would like to suggest a two -part approach to this project: 1) Land Use Planning, 2) Master Planning. The first part, PART A— Land Use Planning /Assessment, lets us know where we're coming from and what we have to build off of. It takes into account traffic studies, adjacent current and future property uses, site surveys and assessments, and utility locations /concerns.