For Gary Councilman Dwayne Haliburton, the Ivanhoe South Nature Preserve is more than a restored resource for the city’s west side: It’s a place of fond memories.
Haliburton was a student at Indiana University Northwest when he went with a class up to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago for an assignment, he told the dignitaries and crowd at the now-revamped preserve’s rededication Oct. 30. The trip and its connection with nature stuck with him to the point that he couldn’t stay away.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton addresses the crowd during the dedication of improvements to the Shirley Heinze Land Trust’s Ivanhoe South Preserve in Gary, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (John Smierciak/for the Post-Tribune)
“I kept going back to Lincoln Park Zoo for two months. It was like every Sunday, I’d go to church and then head to Chicago,” Haliburton said. “I went back so many times, I took a date.
“(A place to absorb and admire nature) is what the Shirley Heinze Land Trust has created for us.”
Indiana American Water in May awarded the Shirley Heinze Land Trust a $150,000 Water and Environmental grant to improve facilities at the Ivanhoe South Nature Preserve, 750 Colfax St., the Post-Tribune previously reported. The money allowed the nonprofit to provide the match it needed for the $977,000 READI 1.0 grant it was awarded under former Governor Eric Holcomb.
The trust, which started snagging some 250 unused lots in the area from tax sales after it started in 1981, ended up with 53 acres of pristine dune and swale habitat, Heinze Trust Executive Director Kris Krouse previously said. It used the combined $1,177,000 from the READI 1.0, Indiana American Water and a $50,000 Legacy Foundation grant to build a sidewalk to the site from West Side Leadership Academy as well boardwalks, an improved bridge over a creek on the property and an accessible trail.
State Senator Mark Spencer addresses the visitors during the dedication of improvements to the Shirley Heinze Land Trust’s Ivanhoe South Preserve in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (John Smierciak/for the Post-Tribune)
“It’s pretty amazing to see this great resource be transformed to an asset to the Region,” Krouse said.
State Senator Mark Spencer, D-Gary, called the preserve the “natural soul of Northwest Indiana.”
“The preserve is more than just greenspace: It’s a living classroom, a sanctuary of reflection and a promise for the future,” Spencer, who’s taught at West Side Leadership Academy for 34 years, said. “Students can enjoy, study and learn from it.”
Jeff Berglund, president of project contractor Berglund Construction of Chesterton, recalled the worry of having to ask 15 homeowners adjacent to the preserve to allow workers to put their driveways out of commission while they restored and installed new sidewalks. Turns out, there was no reason to worry.
Kristopher Krouse (center), executive director of the Shirley Heinze Land Trust, talks with vistors during the dedication of improvements to the trust’s Ivanhoe South Preserve in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (John Smierciak/for the Post-Tribune)
“Our crews made friends in the community,” he said. “(Because of the project), the neighbors have now been inspired to beautify their own yards, so I give the community credit.”
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton thanked residents as well as the Gary Common Council for passing a budget “to work for us” earlier in the week. Having the dune and swale there — especially revitalized — is a godsend in ways people never anticipate.
“Just a few years ago, during the pandemic, people couldn’t go places, but they could go walk around outside. It was so peaceful to just enjoy nature when everyone was so anxious. Thank you so much for your work,” Melton said.
The Indiana American Water award to the Ivanhoe South Nature Preserve was the biggest award American Water gave out to the 12 states it covers, Indiana American Water NWI District Manager Justin Mount previously told the Post-Tribune.
Sue Rutsen, of Miller, crosses the rebuilt bridge during the dedication of improvements to the Shirley Heinze Land Trust’s Ivanhoe South Preserve in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (John Smierciak/for the Post-Tribune)
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
