From heavy manufacturing to parks and housing, Mishawaka, Ind., has pivoted in a way that saved the life of the northern Indiana city.

Looking back 30 years, Mayor Dave Wood described the community meeting he attended with his grandfather. “We were all worried about the largest employer in the city pulling out, and Mayor Bob proposed a very risky idea.”

The major employer was Uniroyal, the mayor was Robert Beutter, and the risky idea was a “sidewalk next to the river.”

That sidewalk next to the St. Joseph River is now the Mishawaka Riverwalk and the 50 odd buildings that were Uniroyal are now upscale apartments, park land and retail spaces that have been developed over the last decades, while city officials always keep their eyes on the vision.

Founded in 1833, Mishawaka built itself on bog iron deposits discovered nearby a few years before. Legend says the area was named for the daughter of nearby Shawnee Chief Elkhart, hence the nickname “The Princess City.” However, others say the city’s name evolved from the Potawatomi term M’Shehwahkeek, which meant “swift flowing water” or “heavy timbered rapids.”

Whatever the origin of the name, the city of 51,000 now thrives on what was once Potawatomi territory.

The bog iron deposits soon became pig iron at the city’s St. Joseph Iron Company. Other types of manufacturing followed, including a blast furnace and machine shop, sawmill, flour mill, and keelboat and steamboat builders. Add to that the Mishawaka Woolen Mill and Ball Band Rubber, which later became Uniroyal, and Mishawaka had become a manufacturing center with factories populating the downtown area.

But by the late 20^th century, manufacturing was waning in northern Indiana. With the decline had withered the jobs of the majority of residents of Mishawaka and the surrounding area.

“It had become a wasteland with abandoned buildings and a river that was used to generate power and dump industrial waste. Mishawaka could have just folded and shut down,” Wood said.  

But, at that meeting, Wood and his grandfather, a long-time Uniroyal employee, attended to hear about what was to become of the property and the more than 10,000 out-of-work residents. That night, Mayor Beutter cast a vision for the downtown area. It would not be an overnight fix, but if it worked, it would carry the city into a new era when people would move to Mishawaka because it was a good, safe, clean and attractive place to live.

“It took vision,” Wood said. Not only would there be park land and a riverwalk, there would be architecturally pleasing housing and mixed-use development. “The vision suggested that this might draw people not just to live there, but to shop and to come to downtown for events and festivals.”

First, the area became an $11 million, multi-year EPA superfund cleanup site.

By the early 21^st century, Mishawaka was ready to implement the vision. In 2003, it invested $3.5 million in creating the sidewalk along the river and the crown jewel of its park system, Beutter Park, which was named for the long-time mayor. The parks will eventually connect the north and south banks of the river without pedestrians having to cross traffic.

The first phase of a 232-unit apartment complex, The Mill at Ironworks Plaza, situated at Beutter Park, was developed and managed by Flaherty and Collins Properties of Indianapolis. It opened for residential rentals in 2019. The city’s contribution to the project was a new community event center, ice skating rink and outdoor Biergarten.

The Avalon is another of the new residential buildings in the downtown area that will open soon. In addition to retail and office space, it offers a little more than 100 mostly studio apartments with a rooftop patio.

Wood said this first phase of development has already attracted new residents to Mishawaka, noting that 80% have moved from outside the city and 30% from outside Indiana. “We’ve experienced a six% population growth.”

He credits the city’s proximity to Chicago and southern Michigan for some of the appeal, as well as a reasonable cost of living.

“People want to choose where they live before where they work. They want amenities. They want to have friends. They want nice places to shop.”

Another visionary move the city took in the 1970s was to create a shopping mall on the north side of the city. That has opened the doors to an ever-expanding retail market that is one of the best in the state of Indiana, Wood noted.

Added to substantial retail operations, Wood said the city has diversified its economic base with numerous smaller manufacturing businesses and several regional healthcare providers.  

Recently, the city broke ground on the second phase of The Mill at Ironworks Plaza: the construction of 227 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. A parking garage, pet spa, fitness center, bike storage and rentable private offices and coworking spaces will be among the amenities. There will also be retail space and dining added to Sun King Brewery, Social Cantina and Mishawaka Public House, as well as the downtown restaurant mainstay Doc Pierce’s.

In addition to a parking garage for the residential units, there will be free, three-hour parking for those coming to the riverfront for events.

Wood said one key to the success of the Riverwalk project has been staying true to the original vision, pivoting only when necessary. “If you look at what we have and the original site plan, they are very similar,” he noted

He added that financing the project has been part of its success. In addition to taking advantage of Tax Increment Financing, the city implemented a local stimulus bond issue to take advantage of favorable interest rates. “Typically, we’ve paid cash for each phase.”

Wood, who has been mayor for 13 years, credited his two predecessors with having “good vision.” He said between the leadership of Mishawaka’s administration, the advice of trusted consultants and input from the community, Mishawaka has had been able to implement the plan created three decades ago.  

Another key to the continuity of vision has been the city’s executive director of planning and community development, Ken Prince. He has been involved in Mishawaka’s planning since he moved there in 2004. Wood credits Prince with the completion of the final gem in the necklace of parks along the Riverwalk. The city recently dedicated “Marvin’s Garden” the newly developed trailhead with its metal sculpture depicting the iconic scene from the movie “Hoosiers” that recalled the 1954 Indiana state basketball championship. The sculpture shows Coach Marvin Wood measuring the height of the basket in Hinkel Fieldhouse to show his players that it was exactly the same as the height of the basket in their Milan High School gym.

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