Jackson megaplex 'on fast track'
LAND DEAL CITES CASINO, ADDRESSES FLOODING
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_e4963387-8747-5f6e-a560-8615b0a62d5a.html
With a land agreement appearing to be set, Gary's mayor said the city's Jackson family mecca is "on the fast track," with organizers planning a return visit to the city in the next couple of weeks.
Mayor Rudy Clay said Friday members of the Jackson Family Foundation will be back in the Steel City in the next two weeks with environmental experts to review land targeted for the massive complex.
Joined by family patriarch Joe Jackson, Clay unveiled plans Tuesday to build a 300-acre shrine to the city's musical family, including a museum and hotel, that will cost at least $300 million.
Organizers have imagined an open-air, green-landscaped home to a theater, retail stores and "casino at a future date," resting south of Interstate 80/94 between Broadway and Grant Street.
Among the land parcels the city deeded to the nonprofit foundation last week is Gilroy Stadium, the overgrown, long-neglected former football field at Harrison Boulevard and 30th Avenue.
According to the Indiana Finance Authority's Brownfields Program, the site remains on a brownfield list, as it was evaluated for petroleum remediation grant funds in 2007.
The property owner will have to conduct an assessment to determine any contamination, and "identify whether further assessment activities would be necessary for the site to be redeveloped," IFA spokeswoman Jessica Ewing said.
Because planners are eyeing a heavily flood-prone area, the real estate agreement notes construction may require working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as performing "extensive environmental impact report studies due to the setting of the site that includes both wetlands and the (Little) Calumet River."
Clay said foundation members will join officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the city's Environmental Affairs Department within two weeks to scout the project site.
The agreement affords the foundation tax-exempt status on the land for five years, with possible extensions, but threatens to remove it if construction is not "substantially" complete within five years of close of escrow.
According to the contract, the multimillion-dollar venue will be built with private and public funds, though Clay strongly vowed taxpayer money would not finance the project.
Contrary to claims from the late Jackson's estate, the contract also states the foundation has "secured the rights of use of the name 'Michael Jackson.'"
The city's contract stipulates the creation of a Michael Jackson Memorial Pavilion and Michael Jackson Performing Arts Center & Concert Hall.
But in a statement released to media this week, Howard Weitzman, the attorney representing the singer's estate and executors, said the estate "was never consulted about, nor is it involved in, the Jackson Family museum being proposed in Gary, Ind.
"Michael Jackson's music, name, likeness, memorabilia and other intellectual property are assets exclusively owned by the estate. These properties cannot be exploited legally without written authorization from the estate."
Gary Corporation Counsel Susan Severtson said the city has left negotiations regarding the estate to the foundation.
The city did not provide The Times with a signed copy of the agreement, but Clay said he and all members of the city's Public Works board signed it, as did Joe Jackson and Katherine Jackson.
Katherine Jackson's Los Angeles-based lawyer has not responded to requests for information about her signature and involvement in the project.
Parcels deeded to the Jackson Family Foundation by the city of Gary:
- 30th Avenue and Broadway
- 3200 Broadway, Gleason Park
- 33rd and Harrison Boulevard, Gleason Park
- 3200 Harrison Blvd., Gilroy Stadium
Source: Real estate agreement between City of Gary and Jackson Family Foundation
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.town...11df-945f-001cc4c002e0.pdf.pdf?_dc=1275709890
