Former Crown Point Mayor David Uran will help the Portage Redevelopment Committee work toward making the city’s parks department self-supporting.
The RDC hired Uran Thursday to advise the city on seeking donations and other opportunities, especially when it comes to athletic facilities.
When Uran became mayor in 2008, Crown Point’s parks department budget was $800,000. When he left office in 2022, it had grown to $2.1 million, supported by the athletic facilities built while he was in office.
“That’s the expertise I would bring to match the vision that the mayor has and the RDC has,” he told the Portage Redevelopment Commission on Thursday.
Uran said he would identify philanthropic opportunities, businesses, advertisements, and other ways to bring in a revenue stream to support programs in Portage, to “give you a little stronger bucket here in Portage,” he said.
Portage Redevelopment Director Dan Botich, who lives in Crown Point, said he has seen the impact Uran’s actions have had there.
“David was very instrumental in bringing sports facilities to the city of Crown Point as a means of economic development and tourism,” he said.
During weekend tournaments, “there are individuals in the restaurants and stores at all times when they’re not playing,” Botich said. “Having lived in Crown Point for 23 or 24 years now, I can see the change.”
Crown Point’s sportsplex has brought in not just athletes and their families but also additional restaurants, hotels and retailers, he said.
Making Portage’s parks department self-supporting through user fees, the same as Crown Point’s parks, would allow the city to shift dollars to other departments, Botich said.
During former Portage Mayor Sue Lych’s term, the RDC had considered a multimillion-dollar sports facility downtown that would similarly draw athletes to the city. Not only was the high cost off-putting, but the operating cost was as well. The project was shelved.
The RDC acquired the former Portage Little League ballfields during Lynch’s tenure. The parks department operates them now.
Uran said with Portage’s location and easy access to the Indiana Toll Road and Interstate 94, it could become the sports capital of Porter County.
Portage Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Andy Maletta recommended Uran.
“Andy got me won over to the idea, and I’m very glad he did,” Portage Mayor Austin Bonta said.
“Where we have the ability over time to become self-sufficient, it’s really key,” Bonta said. He sees the RDC as helping the city move in that direction.
“It’s a big goal. Not everybody necessarily believes we can do it. I believe we can do it, but not necessarily tomorrow,” Bonta said.
After Crown Point’s sportsplex became successful, the city built Bulldog Park downtown, which has proved to be a successful venue for festivals and other large events, reducing the need for traffic to be diverted around the courthouse square, where festivals were held beforehand.
Uran followed Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas’ lead in developing a downtown park. “I told Mayor Costas, ‘You build it first, and we’ll build it bigger and better in Crown Point.’”
Portage could do the same, Uran said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
