Now that passenger service is underway on the Monon Corridor, Hammond can start building its new train station.
Construction of the new station had to wait until ridership started, because it wasn’t included in the original plan.
The West Lake Corridor plan was already in place when Hammond proposed building the station, said Michael Noland, who recently retired as NICTD president and general manager. Revising the plan to include the station would have delayed the entire project by at least a year. Instead, the elevation of the rail lines was calculated to anticipate the station being built between Douglas and Russell streets, near the federal courthouse.
“This is an important step for the revitalization of downtown Hammond,” Mayor Thomas McDermott said in a press release. “This station was not originally slated for a stop on the West Lake line, but we worked with NICTD to find the best location in downtown for it.”
Formerly the West Lake Corridor, the Monon Corridor is 8 miles of new track that connects north Hammond with the Munster/Dyer station and then to Chicago. Passenger service officially began with the 11:45 a.m. train on March 31.
Alexander Gorlin Architects in New York designed the station on the new Hammond station. Jeff Speck, the author of Hammond’s 2019 Downtown Master Plan, assisted with the station design. The plan aims to revitalize Hammond’s downtown core. The city will focus on rehabilitating buildings and creating a walkable downtown neighborhood.
This station will “become one of the centerpieces of the new urban plan to revitalize the city center,” said architect Alexander Gorlin.
The station design, the platform and the public square to the west of the line is budgeted at $10 million. The City of Hammond received $2.8 million through the READI 1.0 grant administered by the NWI Forum. The remainder will be funded from the city’s food and beverage tax.
“This project marks an exciting step forward for the region,” posted the Crossroads Chamber on LinkedIn. “Strengthening transportation infrastructure like this plays a critical role in connecting our communities, supporting local businesses and driving continued economic growth across Northwest Indiana.”
The station is due to be completed in August.
