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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Office of the Mayor <br /> <br />NEWS RELEASE <br />April 3, 2009 <br />11:45 a.m. <br /> <br />Move to industrial park will pave way for Ignition Park <br /> <br />Contact: <br />Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 <br />or Ann Kolata, Senior Redevelopment Specialist, 235-9371 <br /> <br />Underground Pipe & Valve Inc., located in the former Studebaker Foundry, will relocate <br />to a new $2 million facility in the City of South Bend’s Oliver Industrial Park, making <br />way for the demolition of its present facility and the future development of Ignition Park. <br /> <br />The South Bend Redevelopment Commission unanimously approved an agreement <br />Friday between the City and The 1100 Corp. The agreement provides for the purchase of <br />their existing building at 1100 Prairie Ave. and the sale of 6.32 acres in the Oliver <br />Industrial Park. The 1100 Corp. will construct a 36,000-square-foot facility, which it will <br />lease to Underground Pipe & Valve. Construction is expected to begin this spring with <br />completion within a year. <br /> <br />Purchase of the former foundry will complete the Redevelopment Commission’s <br />acquisition of former Studebaker buildings south of Sample Street. The overall 82-acre <br />brownfield site will be redeveloped as Ignition Park. <br /> <br />“The effort to clear the Studebaker Corridor, years in the making, is nearing completion. <br />With the decision by the world’s leading computer chip makers to invest in key <br />nanoelectronics research in our area, these actions take on even greater significance for <br />our city as we prepare the site as Ignition Park,” said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. “In the <br />same way that the railroads, the Oliver Chilled Plow and the Studebaker automobile <br />changed this city, the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery will move us into <br />a new age and a new international prominence. Ignition Park will compete vigorously for <br />commercialization efforts that emerge from MIND.” <br /> <br />Underground Pipe & Valve, a wholesale supplier and distributor of plumbing and sewer <br />equipment, has been in business since 1977. The company has 50 employees, 27 of <br />which work at the Prairie Avenue location with the remainder at distribution centers in <br /> <br />