The city followed the advice of acclaimed urban planner Jeff Speck in redesigning the streetscape between Sibley and Russell streets. The goal is to slow traffic to 20 miles per hour and encourage more pedestrian activity to give it more of a downtown feel and dissuade drivers from just speeding through. Hohman Avenue was rebuilt, restriped and reduced to two lanes through the heart of the city's urban core.
Forty angled parking spots were added in the middle of the street. Parallel parking was added to each side of the street. The sidewalks were widened; decorative lights and trees were added for beautification.
"It's open after a long time of construction. We thought it warranted a celebration but I didn't want to do a celebration because it took way too long," Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said.
"Obviously, we're happy that it's open and that the Banc apartments are now leasing. Obviously, it's a long time coming. We worked very hard for it to finally come to fruition.
" It's Just Serendipity owner Karen Maravilla, who previously led the Downtown Hammond Council, said the end of construction was a welcome relief. "We're very, very excited it's open. People started to find new routes and hopefully will get back into the groove," she said.
"It's now beautiful, pleasing and inviting people to stay and pass through at a slower speed. It's walkable and safe. Traffic was going extremely fast.
Hohman Avenue was a speedway, but now they lowered the speed limit to 20 miles per hour." Construction kicked off in 2022 and was supposed to be completed later that year, but ran into issues with the infrastructure that caused delays. "It's seemed like forever," Maravilla said.
"But we're excited at anything that will make our downtown more appealing." The Downtown Hammond Council and business community are looking to capitalize off the improved streetscape by staging events, such as a holiday fair with food, vendors arts and crafts. It will incorporate elements of the previous "A Christmas Story" celebration that highlighted Hammond native Jean Shepherd's masterpiece.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts "We weren't able to sustain the organization during the pandemic, but the Downtown Hammond Council is now retooling with volunteers and a limited budget," she said. "We want to collaborate with the city on events that will bring people to our beautiful pedestrian downtown." Paul Henry's Art Gallery owner Dave Mueller said the revitalization plan seemed to be a pretty good idea for restoring vitality to an area that was once the Region's major shopping hub before falling out of favor.
"We've been waiting a long time but it was worth it," he said. "It's a start that can change the vision of our downtown area. It was gruesome during the construction.
We didn't have a street. Fortunately we were in view from Fayette Street and people were still able to get to us, The Towle and Eat, but it was bad for businesses on the west side of Hohman Avenue, Potato Express for instance. They didn't even have a street.
" Attendance at events at the art gallery, which is known for its open mic night every Thursday evening, has seen attendance picked up over the last few weeks since Hohman reopened. People also have been turning out to the Downtown Hammond Monday Blues Cruise that's been bringing new people downtown. "We've been left off of people's agenda because of the decay of the neighborhood but now people are finally able to find us here," Mueller said.
"When the housing comes into the Bank Calumet building it should really start to see an impact." Visitors have adjusted to the new angled parking in the middle of the street, which is intuitive, he said. "I think one factor that killed our downtown as a retail area was parking," he said.
"After World War II everybody had a car but there was nowhere to park them in the business section." The addition of the South Shore Line also should bring people in, Mueller said. "I get a call a week from someone from Chicago who wants to visit and they ask about public transportation," he said.
"The South Shore Line comes here but it's 15 blocks away and that's too far to walk. The train will bring people here but they will need sights to see, places to go and things to do within walking distance. Hopefully that increases as time goes by and more places open people can walk to.
" The various downtown revitalization projects can create a critical mass, Mueller said. "Hopefully people recognize the opportunity and have the money to invest," he said. "It doesn't do any good to have people open for three months and then go under.
They need to be able to sustain it for a while before people will come. But they're investing in the downtown. We've been waiting a long time for this.
Downtown has been falling down around us for decades. Now we're seeing it change and go the other way.".
