Mayor McDermott Dedicates Dedelow Parkway to Former Hammond Mayor Dedelow

Mayor McDermott Dedicates Dedelow Parkway to Former Hammond Mayor Dedelow

Members of the Hammond community gathered along New York Avenue on June 27 to celebrate a project—and one of the leaders behind it—that’s been over 20 years in the making. Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr unveiled Dedelow Parkway as a capstone to Hammond’s Lost Marsh estates development. The parkway’s moniker honors former Hammond Mayor Duane Dedelow Jr, whose dedication to the city of Hammond and whose foresight led to Lost Marsh Golf Course and the subsequent housing development.

“We’re recognizing a man today that has lived in Hammond his whole life: he raised his family in Hammond, he served on the Hammond City Council, he served as Hammond’s mayor,” McDermott said. “He had a vision—a lot of visions—but one vision in particular that really affected this part of our city.”

Dedelow oversaw the Lost Marsh project, which reinvented a towering mountain of slag—a byproduct of the steel mills—into the thriving 18-hole golf course it is today. The project was hailed by Environmental Protection Agency officials as the largest and most successful brownfield reclamation project in the Midwest, and Dedelow and other city officials were even invited to Johannesburg to speak about the project at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Now the project continues transcending itself, with whole neighborhoods being built around the former environmental disaster. Spearheaded by the Hammond Redevelopment Commission and in part by the Hammond Port Authority, the estates will include single-family homes near the cul-de-sac, and 14 townhomes along New York Avenue. Six lots have already been auctioned off to buyers.

Milan Kruszynski, Director of Hammond Port Authority, stated that this development would not have come to be without Dedelow.

“Mayor Dedelow decided to leave this space open for future development,” said Kruszynski. “It would have been easy to build the golf course all the way down to New York Avenue; his decision and thoughts as our construction-oriented mayor allowed this space to be developed when the time was right, when the dollars were available, and now it has come to fruition.”

“It was a no-brainer,” McDermott said on deciding to name the parkway after Dedelow.

Dedelow was humbled and honored by the namesake.

“When I first was approached by the mayor, yes, I received this well, but I felt that I did not deserve, quite frankly, such a high honor,” Dedelow said. “But as I thought about it, I realized this is not just for me. This is for the entire Dedelow family—the generations of Dedelows that have been here in Hammond since the late 1800s.”

When it comes to the impact this development will have on his city, Dedelow knows the rewards will be major.

“Any time that you’re building new houses, it lifts up the community and improves the quality of life,” Dedelow said. “In urban America, which [Hammond] certainly is, we’re always looking for ways to improve the community and put together projects that enhance property value and certainly this is an absolute win.”

Attendees agreed. Diane Kaminsky, Executive Director of the Whiting Chamber of Commerce and board member of the Hammond Port Authority, was thrilled.

“I’m ecstatic to see that Hammond is able to have some new housing,” Kaminsky said. “As far as land goes, there’s not a whole lot of land available, so it’s great to see these new projects coming up. It gives families another opportunity to find housing and make their homes in Hammond.”

Before joining in the official unveiling of the Dedelow Parkway street sign (and receiving his own commemorative sign,) Dedelow paid special thanks to his wife, family, the Hammond community, city officials, and to Mayor McDermott for continuing the tradition of rebuilding and reinvigorating the city of Hammond.

“I want to take this forward and do everything in my power to always honor this great distinction,” Dedelow said. “We are all on the same side today: we are on the same side of building Hammond forward, making Hammond one, and moving into the future to make better neighborhoods and to make Hammond a great place to live and raise a family.”