Fighting for the Dunes: Longtime Save the Dunes activists Ruth Osann (left) and Charlotte Read (right) were among the demonstrators at a rally against the proposed hotel in the Indiana Dunes State Park held Wednesday. Developers were invited to tour the proposed hotel site and State Park Pavilion with Department of Natural Resources staff. (Tribune photos by Margaret L. Willis)

Citizens against the hotel at State Park: Citizens opposed to the hotel proposed at the Indiana Dunes State Park turned out in demonstration Wednesday morning when Department of Natural Resources personnel met with potential developers at the beach site. At top, John Souder Roser, a third generation supporter of preserving the dunes, stands at one corner of the footprint of the proposed hotel. All of the center of the picture would be filled in by the 87,000 sq. ft. structure. In middle photo, demonstrators were ready with signs when DNR officials arrived. In lower photo DNR director of Indiana State Parks Dan Bortner greeted demonstrators with the question “Is there anything we can do for you?” to which some replied “Stop this hotel.” Bortner is shaking hands with citizen activist Kathy Haburjak. At back are Linda Klaiber and Marjory Crawford. (Tribune photos by Margaret L. Willis)

By VICKI URBANIK

Only a few potential developers attended a Wednesday meeting called by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to discuss the state’s plan to build a privately owned and operated hotel near the Indiana Dunes State Park beach.

But had it not been for the crowd of hotel opponents who also showed up, the meeting would have been uneventful. None of the potential hoteliers publicly posed questions, and the DNR officials had little to say, referring all but the most mundane media questions to the DNR’s public relations staff in Indianapolis.

But the hotel opponents, who outnumbered the developers and DNR officials, did have plenty to say.

About 25 people gathered in the state park parking lot and held up signs against the hotel as DNR officials and potential developers arrived. The DNR meeting itself -- conducted in two segments inside the park pavilion, one before and one after the participants walked to the nearby hotel site -- was brief.

But as inn opponents began to weigh in by asking questions of their own, DNR officials several times reminded them that the purpose of the meeting was to answer questions only from hotel developers, and that anyone with concerns is encouraged to put them in writing to DNR Director Kyle Hupfer.

The opponents managed to get a few questions answered, one of which was whether the DNR will hold a public input session on the hotel. DNR Assistant Director for Inns and Concessions Gary Miller said that hasn’t been determined yet.

Right after Miller called the meeting to a close, Donna Gonzalez of Griffith and a member of the Indiana Audubon Society spoke out, saying that the Indiana Dunes provide an important migratory bird habitat and that a beachfront hotel would endanger the birds.

Then, Walter Lizek of Valparaiso questioned if the DNR was “stonewalling” by not answering the public’s questions, as he himself proceeded to ask what purpose is served by national and state parks if they don’t protect natural lands “and provide a place free from commercial buildings.”

“That’s a good question to ask the DNR,” responded Save the Dunes Council Executive Director Tom Anderson, who then noted that the DNR wasn’t providing a forum for the public to get answers.

The meeting was arranged by the DNR to answer hotel developers’ questions prior to the May 31 deadline for them to submit proposals as to how they would build and operate the hotel. The DNR’s prospectus states that attendance at the meeting wasn’t mandatory for anyone submitting a bid, but it was “highly suggested.”

The hotel owner would pay property taxes on the building and would pay rent to the state for use of the land. How much that rent payment will be and whether the state would get anything else financially from the hotel, such as a share of the room revenues or merchandise sales, will not be known until after the proposals are submitted.

While it cannot be known for sure just who in attendance might end up submitting a bid, the sign-in sheet and known attendees included Bill Wellman, a member of the Lake County tourism board who signed in as a representative of Whiteco Industries, which developed the Radisson Star plaza; Speros Batistatos, executive director of the Lake County tourism bureau who recently made comments in support of the DNR’s hotel plans; and representatives of firms listed as Wright Entertainment Group, Haas & Associates, Studio Gang Architects, and Shaw Environmental.

Mark Schendel of Studio Gang of Chicago said his firm intends to submit a proposal in conjunction with a team. When asked about the opposition, he said the interest in the inn was a “good thing” because it’s providing a checks and balance to ensure that the inn developer does nothing wrong.

“I’d be very surprised if there weren’t anybody interested,” he said.

About the only announcement made at the DNR’s meeting came when Miller made three corrections to the state park inn prospectus.

One correction is that the hook-up to the Porter town sewer plant is estimated to cost $800,000, and that the $150,000 pricetag cited in the prospectus only referred to one part of the overall project. Miller also noted that the plans for a 400-vehicle parking lot have been withdrawn (Hupfer has indicated that a parking garage might be an alternative). He also corrected his email address as given in the prospectus.

The DNR has sent out about 70 copies of the prospectus, Miller said, though he noted that not all of them went to potential developers but to anyone who asked for it. He said he had no idea how many developers attended Wednesday’s meeting.

The parking lot gathering prior to the DNR’s meeting was originally called by the Save the Dunes Council, which opposes the state park inn. But even though the group announced on Monday that it was canceling its participation, the protest went on and actually included a number of Save the Dunes Council members and supporters.

One of those was Herb Read, who was instrumental in the establishment of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore decades ago.

Echoing the overwhelming sentiment of other hotel opponents that the DNR’s mind appears to be made up, Read said he found it “noteworthy” that at the only onsite meeting hosted by the DNR to answer developers’ questions, none of them had questions.

“This is just like we’re in the 1950’s all over again, having to protest to save the dunes,” he said.

Read, an architect who vividly remembers the former state park inn that was located between the site of the proposed new hotel and the pavilion, said the two cannot be compared. He said the new hotel now proposed is seven times the floor area of the old one, not including the parking spaces needed.

The outcry over the hotel, Read added, demonstrates that the battle over saving the dunes has not been won.

“In any environmental effort, the battle is never won permanently. You have to keep at it day by day, year after year,” he said.

Another hotel opponent was Joy Johnston, who said that the beachfront parking lot proposed for the new hotel is the site where a group of seniors come almost daily to watch the sunset.

When asked why they simply can’t use the main parking lot just to the east, Johnston said the presence of the pavilion and park signage block the sunset view for anyone parked in their cars.

“We come here to enjoy nature -- and each other,” she said while on the site of the proposed hotel.

Lizek said state and national parks should be preserves where people can go for no reason other than simply to enjoy nature, since these are about the only places left that aren’t “touched by human greed.”

Gonzalez said migratory birds, like hawks, travel during the day, but that others, like spring warblers, fly by night. Migratory birds are doing “pretty good” if they can make it as far as the Indiana Dunes in their annual migrations, she said, but they’re also attracted to lights and often die by crashing into buildings lit-up at night, as the beachfront hotel would undoubtedly be.

“This is a nice dark area,” she said, pointing to the shoreline. “We don’t need the light pollution in the dunes. We just don’t need it in our park here.”

Posted 4/13/2006