Some highlights from 2018

Closings seemed to be a thread winding through 2018. PNC Bank announced early in the year that it was closing its Rensselaer and Wheatfield branches, making Merrillville the nearest branch. Many locals spent time and effort relocating banking accounts. The PNC building was purchased by the County in December and will be remodeled to allow the prosecutor's office and the Health Department to move out of the former REMC building.

In June the Jasper County Youth Center on Sparling closed. Also closing in the summer were Greene's Furniture and the Antique Mall. The biggest closing is still in the future. Early this year NIPSCO announced that it would be shutting down two of the four generating stations at the Wheatfield Schahfer plant, and then a  bit later it announced that all four would be shut down by 2023. NIPSCO is by far the largest payer of property taxes in the County and is one of the larger employers.

While there were some goings, there were also some comings. Two CAFOs were approved and began construction. One was for medical research swine and is located in Barkley Township. The other is a traditional swine breeding operation that will produce baby pigs and is located in Jordan Township. Both had opposition that led to long meetings of the BZA, Plan Commission, and Commissioners. IMPA finished a solar park in the northern part of Rensselaer that is now in operation. Several new businesses opened in downtown Rensselaer: Moonshiners, The Little Coffee Shop on 231, and Thee Dragonfly. The latter picked up some of the vendors that had been at Greene's Antique Mall and will open in a new location in 2019. Through much of the year there were rumors of interest in a very large solar farm near Wheatfield and in December the rumors were confirmed. A motel is going up near Remington. Adjacent to Jasper County, Fair Oaks Farms has been building a large hotel that will open early in 2019. The biggest coming for Rensselaer will also open in 2019, the 44 unit assisted-living facility being built by Autumn Trace.

The Police Department moved its offices. NITCO purchased Rensselear TV Cable and moved offices to the old Blockbuster building. The bakery changed ownership and is now Brandie's Bakery. Balloons Galore and Endless Treasure moved. Family Dentistry on Front Street changed ownership at the end of the year and 2019 will welcome new dentist.

Three construction projects that the blog followed with interest were the water main to the new well on Sparling Avenue, the Grace Street reconstruction, and the improvements to the intersection of US 231 and Mt. Calvary Road. The blog did not have much to say about another important construction project, the replacement of the bridge deck several miles north of Rensselaer on US 231. The Parks for People Campaign raised most of its $1.5 million goal and began work on two projects, a dog park on Bunkum Road and new soccer fields at the former site of the Monnett School. MainStreet Rensselaer put in a short walking tail in Milroy Park. The City of Rensselaer approved a downtown development plan that was funded by a state grant.

2018 saw some interesting events. A replica of the Vietnam Wall came to Brookside Park in May. The Fair Grounds hosted a national convention in July, the Van Nationals. The remnants of Hurricane Gordon rained out part of the Little Cousin Jasper Festival in September. A new event arrived in September, a cemetery walk in Weston Cemetery called Memories Alive. There were open houses and tours of the City power plant and Chief Industries.

This blog posted frequent updates about the cleanup of the trail derailment that happened at the end of 2017. In February heavy rains led to river flooding. The Grandma's Restaurant building was demolished. SJC settled its debt with Farm Credit and as part of the settlement, about 800 acres of SJC land were auctioned. Discussions of wind farms were the subject of many meetings, some with very large crowds. The issue will spill over into 2019.

What else should I have included?

(The Rensselear Republican's Year in Review is here.)