Safety Summit: Things We Can Do To Be Safe

The South Bend Police will share 10 things they are doing to make South Bend safer and Michael Dvorak will give an overview of the Prosecutor’s Office.

There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.

Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Time: 6:00—7:00 p.m.

Location: Robinson Community

Learning Center

921 N. Eddy Street

South Bend, IN 46617

Light Refreshments Will Be Served

NEN Center

803 N. Notre Dame Ave.

For anyone not familiar with or new to the neighborhood, the NENC operates a food pantry at the NENC Center–the firehouse located at 803 N. Notre Dame Ave.  Recipients must live in the 46617 zip code and are eligible to receive food once a month. 

Currently the pantry is open on Tuesday 9-11a & 2-4p, Wednesday 2-4p, and Friday 2-4p.  The food pantry relies on generous donations of food and toiletries from neighbors, corporate donors, church congregations, and receives additional items from the Food Bank of Northern Indiana either by purchase or through commodities distributions.  The pantry also relies on the generous time given by it’s volunteers who are largely members of Sacred Heart Parish or neighborhood residents.

Fresh produce is available through partnership with Unity Gardens, a network of about 35 gardens across the South Bend area. Anyone can visit a garden and pick ripe vegetables or fruits for free, and produce also is available directly from the pantry. The nearest garden is at South Bend Avenue and Turnock, just west of the firehouse. A second garden project by Near East Neighbors-Good Shepherd donates directly to the pantry as well. Check the Resources page for more info.

Donations from neighborhood residents and businesses are always needed and welcome (non-perishable food items and toiletries) and can be dropped off at the pantry during the regular weekly hours.

Welcome to New Neighbors

On June 3, 2008, the community celebrated groundbreaking of the Eddy Street Commons. In just two short years, the neighborhood has experienced an extraordinary transformation on Eddy Street from Angela Boulevard to Napoleon Boulevard and on Angela Boulevard from Notre Dame Avenue to State Road 23. Many commercial and residential buildings are now complete and throughout 2010 new businesses and residents have become a part of the neighborhood.

Currently, twelve retail businesses and one hotel are serving the public, and two additional retailers are slated to open in the coming months. Retailers now occupy over 57,000 square feet in the Commons. The Fairfield Inn and Suites, a limited service facility on Angela Boulevard, is five stories high and includes 67 rooms, 53 suites and 856 square feet of meeting space.

Local residents own and operate 67 percent of the leased space, providing access to a variety of products and services including fitness and food, beauty and banking, recreation and reading, and much more. AT&T opened a new prototype corporate store in March 2010 and Chipotle, the most desired tenant according to a Notre Dame student survey, opened in September 2009. It is estimated that over 300 new jobs have been created as a result of these businesses.

Champion Way City Homes on Angela Boulevard are now complete and additional flats and townhouses are under construction. These homes are convenient to bike paths, Eddy Street shops and restaurants, the University of Notre Dame and downtown South Bend.

Eddy Street retailers now open for business include: AT&T, Anytime Fitness, Camellia Cosmetics, Chipotle, Five Guys Burgers, Hot Box Pizza and Kildare’s Irish Pub. Also open are Nicholas J. Salon/Spa, The Mark Dine & Tap, Old National Bank, Outpost Sports and University of Notre Dame bookstore.

Watch for Jamba Juice and Kilwin’s Ice Cream, which are set to open soon.

– Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization, Annual Report 2010

State Road 23 rolls on to the Next Phase: Acquisition, Relocation and Construction

May 2010. At last a plan has been approved for the improvement of State Road 23 between Twyckenham and Campeau Street, an intersection south on Eddy Street from the “Five Corners.” In a letter from the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), it was announced that the Federal Highway Administration (Indiana Division) has issued a FONSI determination - Finding of No Significant Impact on the “natural and human environment.” This step allows the project to proceed towards the “construction of a four lane boulevard with a landscape median, sidewalks and the elimination of traffic congestion at the six-leg intersection (”Five Corners”) through redesign of the connecting streets.”

INDOT first approached the City of South Bend about this project in 1993. Five alternatives were presented to the city and Northeast Neighborhood. Meetings with neighbors and the city were held in 1995 and 1996 at which Alternative No. 5 was tentatively supported with provisions about access, pedestrians and landscaping — neighborhood friendly issues. The final plan is a revision of Alternative No. 5, indicating that the state and federal Departments of Transportation did listen to the neighbors and the city officials and addressed their concerns.

The reconfiguration of State Road 23 affects the shape of the future development in the Northeast Neighborhood.

– Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization, Annual Report 2010

For questions about the project, contact the Northeast Neighborhood Council at info@northeastneighborhood.com.