4,000-Year-Old Forest Under Threat by Hammond Mayor
Mayor moving full-steam ahead with plans for a new overpass that would cut through the heart of Hammond’s richest environmental treasure.
The woods at the center of Hammond’s Hessville neighborhood are one of the last surviving remnants of the 4,000-year-old High Tolleston Dunes that once covered much of the area. It’s incredible to think of the changes these woods have seen over the millennia. Today, these woods are one of the few remaining patches of green space in our city where families can gather to breathe fresh air and be surrounded by nature.
Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. has now put this beautiful legacy at risk with his newly announced plans to build an overpass that would cut through this ancient forest, known now as the Briar East Woods.
“Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. defended his administration’s plans to construct the overpass despite near-universal opposition by the community members”
At a recent Mayor’s Night Out event at Scott Middle School, Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. defended his administration’s plans to construct the overpass despite near-universal opposition by the community members in attendance. Instead of hearing and responding to the concerns of his constituents in good faith, attendees were met with dismissive condescension.
“The city’s handling of this project only serves to underscore Mayor McDermott’s undisguised contempt for his constituents and shows the urgent need for grassroots organizing in Northwest Indiana communities.”
One of the clearest examples of this was when Lilia Wolf, a 17-year-old climate activist and student at Morton High School, called mayor McDermott Jr. out for his lack of transparency. Instead of receiving the question, the Mayor instead repeatedly interrupted and talked over her in an apparent effort to evade the line of questioning. When Lilia suggested he should listen to residents rather than speak over them, he dismissed her out-of-hand, quipping, “I’ve been doing this for 18 years, ma’am. Like, as long as you’ve been alive, I think.”
The city’s handling of this project only serves to underscore Mayor McDermott’s undisguised contempt for his constituents and shows the urgent need for grassroots organizing in Northwest Indiana communities.
The Justification
As a lifelong resident of Hessville and a teacher at Scott Middle School, this issue is particularly important to me.
The purported reason for building this overpass is to resolve an issue that has long plagued Hessville: stopped trains blocking railroad crossings. Anyone who has lived in the neighborhood for any period of time will tell you that this is a real issue that represents a daily headache for people in the area. This is especially true for Scott Middle School and Morton High students, who are often late due to stopped trains.
Because these trains can sometimes sit idle for hours at a time, it is not uncommon to see students who walk to school climbing over stopped train cars to get to their destination. This represents a huge safety issue and is understandably a source of concern for parents.
The city claims that the overpass would solve the train issue in Hessville by creating a route by which cars could get over the tracks when a train is blocking the crossings. It also claims that the overpass would solve the issue of students climbing over the tracks since it would be accessible to pedestrians.
Misdirection and Deceit
While the first claim is misleading, the second is outright false.
It’s true that the overpass would allow cars to get around stopped trains, but this comes with a tradeoff; as part of the project, the railroad crossings at Arizona Avenue and Parrish Avenue would be closed. This means that much of the traffic, which would ordinarily cross the tracks at these locations, will be diverted to the overpass. So while cars would be able to get over stopped trains, it seems likely that traffic on the overpass would be quite heavy since two of the main arteries going through Hessville would be cut off.
Additionally, it is unclear how students who walk to school would benefit from the overpass since the route it follows takes them far out of their way. Once students get across the tracks using the overpass, they would still have to walk another 20 minutes to get to Morton and 25 minutes to get to Scott.
The proposed overpass would destroy one of the few surviving green spaces in our neighborhood, burdening us with even greater air and soil pollution, all while solving no real problems.
A Hidden Agenda?
Given that this project would not benefit students, what are the city’s true intentions?
It is widely believed that the overpass is intended as a first step toward the construction of a new subdivision in the area. There is concern from many in the community that these new homes would be an extension of the nearby Parrish View subdivision, a gated community consisting of upscale houses priced well above the median home value in our area. This subdivision looks decidedly out of place compared with the modest homes that make up the rest of Hessville. Its expansion would destroy a public treasure, harming the whole community for the sole benefit of a handful of developers and powerful special interests.
“If the overpass is completed, a subdivision is likely to soon pave over the rest of Briar East woods.”
Speculations about a new subdivision arose when our city engineer, Dean Button, commented that there was room for 50 houses in the area across from Parrish View in what is now the Briar East Woods. At the recent Mayor’s Night Out event in Hessville, the Mayor denied that the city has plans to construct a subdivision in the area, but when asked if he would commit to not building new homes in the area at any point in the future, he pointedly refused to make that commitment.
His evasiveness makes it clear; if the overpass is completed, a subdivision is likely to soon pave over the rest of Briar East woods.
“The playbook is always the same: attract affluent residents to a neighborhood with upscale development that raises property values which prices black, brown and working-class white people out of their homes.”
This new subdivision, along with plans to “revitalize” the Hessville business district represents just the latest example of a policy of gentrification by the current administration. The playbook is always the same: attract affluent residents to a neighborhood with upscale development that raises property values which prices black, brown, and working-class white people out of their homes. Then, once this is accomplished, real estate developers and banks can come in and make huge profits, buying up cheap land for redevelopment into luxury housing and businesses.
“When you understand that under capitalism a forest has no value until it's cut down, you begin to understand the root of our ecological crises.”
Policies such as these result from the close ties between landlords, financial interests, and government at all levels. Under our current system, natural spaces are seen as nothing more than idle land waiting to be turned into factories, department stores, or condos. As blogger Adam Idek Hastie put it, “When you understand that under capitalism a forest has no value until it's cut down, you begin to understand the root of our ecological crises.”
Put in other terms, this is a clear example of environmental racism.
In today’s society, we’re losing more and more of our wild places and natural wonders, like the High Tolleston Dunes, are in danger of being lost forever. This doesn’t have to be our future. There are many ways you can support to help us oppose this overpass - here are a few:
Sign the petition started by Ken Rosek, a local environmental activist in Hessville who has taken the lead in organizing opposition to this project
Donate to help support the critical organizing that fights against destructive corporate interests and for the working families of Northwest Indiana.
