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• Provide adequate road access to new development. This may require <br />construction of a new road system within the northern section of the <br />main plant complex or in the area of the former Studebaker foundry. <br />C. RUM VILLAGE INDUSTRIAL PARK <br />The Rum Village Industrial Park is an area of 412 acres that is primarily <br />zoned "E - Heavy Industrial." (See Map 9.) This is an area of great development <br />potential, but it also has several substantial barriers to private sector development. <br />The area has been zoned "E" - Heavy Industrial for many years. However, <br />industrial development has been very sporadic with little private investment for long <br />periods of time. Lack of roadway access and utilities coupled with unstable soil <br />conditions has deterred normal development and occupancy of land that otherwise is <br />situated in an excellent location for industrial development. Transforming <br />development potential into reality will require substantial public involvement and <br />investment. <br />The strengths of this sub -area include the transportation network, large site <br />possibilities, and major infrastructure adjacent to the development area. With the <br />extension of the U.S. 31 Expressway to the Indiana Toll Road (and farther into <br />Michigan) and the extension eastward into Elkhart County, the opportunity for <br />industrial expansion has been given a strong push. The Rum Village Industrial Park <br />is situated along the U.S. 31 Expressway and permits ready access to markets in all <br />directions. In addition, the sub -area is served by several rail lines and offers an <br />opportunity for heavy industrial users or users needing access to rail service. This <br />area is one of the few sites remaining within the community that would allow such <br />rail access and heavy industrial development and processes. <br />The Rum Village Industrial Park is similar to the Studebaker Corridor in that <br />one major physical impediment exists that prevents the private sector from developing <br />this sub -area. In the Studebaker Corridor, the impediment is man - made —the large, <br />obsolete , multi -story buildings are not readily adaptable for modern industrial <br />processes or material handling. In the Rum Village Industrial Park the physical <br />impediment is natural —the unsuitable soil conditions require demucking in order to <br />create developable sites. Regardless of the cause, the common effect is that the cost <br />of private development is driven so high that neither area can be redeveloped without <br />public involvement and investment. The cost of development per acre is substantially <br />increased because of soil conditions, demolition and clearance costs, or potential <br />environmental problems. In addition, the Rum Village Industrial Park, Sample - <br />Indiana and Studebaker Corridor all face the common problem of potential <br />environmental pollution. A good portion of these areas have been the historical site <br />-29- <br />5/21/93 <br />