A somewhat hidden nature preserve on Gary’s West side is set to become an educational beacon, thanks to grants and perseverance.
Indiana American Water Monday afternoon awarded the Shirley Heinze Land Trust a $150,000 Water and Environmental grant to turn its Ivanhoe South Nature Preserve, 750 Colfax St., into a place where students and passersby alike can come and take in its wonder. The money gives the nonprofit the final boost it needed to trigger the $977,000 READI 1.0 grant it was awarded under former Governor Eric Holcomb.
The trust, which started snagging some 250 unused lots in the area from tax sales after it started in 1981, ended up with 53 acres of pristine dune and swale habitat, Trust Executive Director Kris Krouse said during an announcement at the site. It will now use the $1,177,000 from the READI 1.0, Indiana American Water and a $50,000 Legacy Foundation grant to build a sidewalk to the site from West Side Leadership Academy as well as add a bathroom and improve a bridge over a creek on the property.
“We want to engage students with environmental initiatives,” he said.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said he remembers being taken to Deep River to learn about the Monarch butterfly, so having a project at home will be an investment that will strengthen the city’s connection to the environment. Indiana State Senator Mark Spencer, D-Gary, echoed Melton’s sentiment.
“As a 33-year veteran educator at West Side, I’m excited for young people to have this wonderful, natural space,” he said. “The Shirley Heinze Land Trust has been a quiet, powerful force whose work isn’t just saving lands, but giving stories to neighborhood and industry.
“We’re not breaking ground — we’re planting hope.”
Northwest Indiana Forum President and CEO Heather Ennis said the Ivanhoe project might not be the biggest in the scheme of the $50 million Northwest Indiana received, but it may have the most impact, while Legacy Foundation President and CEO Kelly Anoe added that when people invest in public space, it’s not just about beauty, but equity and resilience as well.
When Indiana American Water NWI District Manager Justin Mount got word that he had money to award, the first person he called was NWI Forum Environmental Affairs Director Kay Nelson for suggestions. She immediately told him Ivanhoe South would be the place because the land itself helps recharge aquifers in the area.
“A sidewalk sounds like such simple amenity, but it provides safe transport to 53 acres of dune and swale, and other rich ecological opportunities,” Nelson said. “You hear the birds, the Spring peepers (frogs), and you see the mayflowers. When Justin made that call to me, and to find out (Ivanhoe) got that match was really an awesome thing.”
The Indiana American Water award was the biggest award American Water gave out to the 12 states it covers, Mount added.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
