04-2009 Newsletter - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 0 U B E N D APRIL 2009/ a Ait (11A 7 1:M4y'oR STtpkFy I LGFckf Letter from the Mayor THIS MONTH... Dear Friends and Neighbors, Mayor's Letter Each spring, we welcome back the many varieties of birds to our city. Potawatomi Zoo But even in the winter months, a prominent sight has been observed in the skies Lincoln Highway Celebration above South Bend. It's neither the County -City Building falcons nor the Solid Waste Program Tips Silver Hawks Schedule Saint Mary's ospreys, but cranes that have been sighted throughout our city. In 2008, five locations of construction cranes were highly visible exclamation points for our progress as a city: �\rw<�v\rw< 1. Starting downtown a five -story addition to the 1924 American Bank & < r << Trust building rose quickly and nears completion. Part of the new > POTAWATOMI < $7.5- million American Trust Place mixed -use development, it's at the corner of < < Washington and Michigan streets. The City of South Bend has provided support for 0 0 < the $800,000 exterior facade renovation on the existing building, listed on the > u National Register of Historic Places. This work will make the 37,000- square -foot Spring is finally here, that means < complex the perfect addition to the downtowns office, residential and retail market < potawatomi Zoo is open for the < when it opens this summer. < Season!! < 2. Heading north, a massive crane helped workers near completion of the Come out to visit the animals < largest expansion in the 112- year - history of Memorial Hospital. We and see what is new at the Zoo < anticipate a grand opening this year of the new $79.4 million surgical center. The Admission is only $7.50 for project, under way since 2006, will enable a 53 percent increase in the hospital's adults and $5.50 for children 3 - volume of surgical cases and, when complete, will represent one of the most 14 and seniors over 62! < technologically advanced surgicenters in the nation. < < < 3. As many as five cranes have been in operation at Eddy Street Commons, > For more information please call 235 -9800 or visit the website: < the region's single largest commercial construction project in decades. The first began work on the 1,280- vehicle parking garage which anchors this high density, www.potawatomizoo.org. smart growth development. Also on the east side of Eddy Street, work is progressing quickly on the ground -level retail with upper -floor apartments. 4. The second area for cranes at Eddy Street Commons is on the west side of Eddy Street. These cranes are lifting materials to construct the retail and residential space that will epitomize the new urbanism of this college town environment. The Legends Row condominiums overlook what will be a new gateway and a vital gathering place for city and university. Eddy Street Commons is having a positive economic impact on South Bend as nearly 800 people are employed during construction. Many more permanent jobs will be created to staff two hotels, and the retail and office space, which will complement the hundreds of town homes, apartments and condominiums at the site. 5. The fifth crane also promises job creation. It emerged recently at Innovation Park at Notre Dame, the campus portion of the city's dual -site, state - certified technology park. (I described the other site, Ignition Park, in February.) The first 54,000- square -feet building at Innovation Park is scheduled for completion in fall 2009. Innovation Park at Notre Dame will facilitate commercialization of all forms of research, by convening innovators throughout the entire Notre Dame community (including faculty, students, alumni and partners in the region) and beyond. These construction cranes mark the vitality of our city. I hope you've en- joyed watching the daily progress as much as I have. Sincerely,