The $30 million Tolleston Opportunity Campus in Gary has been taking shape since the project broke ground in May. Wintrust is the latest company to jump on the bandwagon as a partner at the facility.
The bank will join Crossroads YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubrs of Greater Northwest Indiana and Methodists as the financial wellness partner of the campus. The Wintrust branch will be in the lobby of the YMCA.
“We have always known that our investment in Northwest Indiana would go through the City of Gary, and we are confident that our partnership in the Tolleston Opportunity Campus will magnify our impact there,” said Curt Bowers, vice president of commercial banking at Wintrust, in a LinkedIn post.
Seeds for the project's inception were planted when $10 million was allocated during the first round of READI projects announced in 2023. Since then, the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation committed $15 million, including an extra $5 million announced at the ceremony. In 2022, the city of Gary voted to contribute $10 million. And other various community partners also chipped in since then.
The campus will be built at the Gary branch of the Boys & Girls Club in the former Tolleston Middle School. It includes 50,000 square feet of new space and upgrades to the club. Three buildings were taken down to make room for the community resource center.
The project brought together key players in the Region, and soon it will bring thousands of people to its doors, which are expected to open in 2026.
