21-05-2025
New Lake County Convention Center Is Coming to Gary
It's official. The Lake County Board of Commissioners selected Gary as the site for the new Lake County Convention Center.
The commissioners announced the decision Wednesday morning to a packed room and were met with rousing applause from an audience that included Gary residents and city officials. What began as proposals for 14 sites across the county was narrowed to five in March 2024 and ultimately down to two finalists: Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary and Patriot Park in Hobart.
'This was not an easy decision,' Lake County Commissioner Jerry Tippy said.
The push for a county convention center began in the Indiana Senate in 2023 when lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 434. Mayor Eddie Melton, a state senator at the time, was the principal author of that bill.
That legislation established the Lake County Economic Development and Convention Fund, authorizing resources for a county convention center and opening the door for site proposals to the Board of Commissioners.
In 2018, the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, located just off U.S. 30, closed and was demolished, leaving Northwest Indiana without a venue for large conventions and shows.
Last year, Gary joined forces with Hard Rock Casino to propose a 145,000-square-foot convention center with 73,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space, including a 40,000-square-foot exhibit hall and an 18,000-square-foot foot ballroom. The plan includes adding a Hard Rock Hotel, which is estimated to have 300 rooms.
The prospect of Gary landing the county convention center has sparked excitement and widespread interest among local officials and residents alike. In March, hundreds of residents from Gary and across Lake County packed St. Timothy Church in the Tolleston neighborhood to hear Mayor Eddie Melton unveil details of Gary's convention center proposal. In the weeks that followed, the city and Hard Rock Casino rolled out a series of commercials highlighting the bid's projected economic boost and showcasing renderings of the new facility.
Earlier this year, Gary's bid came under legislative fire from the Hammond City Council and its mayor, Tom McDermott, who attributed $13 million in losses to Gary's casino, which opened in 2022.
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