Avalon, a banquet facility, opened on U.S. 30, and the Hobart Family YMCA completed work on an expansion that nearly tripled the size of the previous facility. The city also contributed projects of its own. A fourth fire station was added on Colonial Drive, and a police substation was constructed at Southlake Mall. Merrillville planners granted final approval to a 474-unit apartment complex at 93rd Avenue and Taft Street. Two new retailers also began plans to move to Merrillville by next summer.
Plans call for three restaurants and six other retailers.
While construction was off the charts in some communities, Cedar Lake and Lowell sat idly by, hamstrung by a state-imposed sewer ban. The promised release of 200 sewer taps never materialized even though the two towns, which share the use of a sewage facility south of Lowell, agreed, at the state's vigorous urging, to put aside 20 years of acrimony and work together toward solving their common problems. Hopes were high. And hopes remain high that the towns' separate projects are essentially on parallel tracks and will be completed in time for developers to take advantage of the spring construction season. To help deal with the growth, many road improvement projects either started or were completed in 2000.