At its last meeting the Chesterton Town Council adopted a resolution urging Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to re-open Chellberg Farm.

At its meeting Monday Superintendent Constantine Dillon took the opportunity presented by that resolution to appear before the council to give members a bit of background on the status of Chellberg Farm but also to present his vision for the future.

Dillon emphasized first that Chellberg Farm is not and has never been closed. Maple Sugar Time will continue to be held on the site as will the Fall Harvest Festival. The only thing which has changed is that the animals are gone, he said. With no farmer on staff to care for the work horses, Dillon explained--long-time farmer Jim Smiddy was not replaced when he retired--it was thought best to donate the horses for their own well-being. The goat, on the other hand, took sick and was put down.

Dillon did not say that, with no farmer, there has been no sowing this season of crops and no planting of the historical vegetable garden.

There was no plan to divest Chellberg Farm of the animals, Dillon noted. It just sort of happened. But once it did happen, the National Park Service (NPS) thought it a good time to “step back” and take stock. “Are we doing everything we can? Are there other stories to tell besides farming and the Swedish culture?”

In fact, Dillon told the council, there are many stories: those of other ethnicities which settled in Northwest Indiana, of the American Indians who once populated the region, of the steel industry, of the numerous archaeological sites within the National Lakeshore, and of the history of the conservation movement.

So, Dillon said--with those other stories in mind--“we are engaging in what we’re calling a Comprehensive Interpretive Plan. We’re inviting you and everybody to look forward. What else can we do with the area?”

The first opportunity for the public to provide input on the Comprehensive Interpretive Plan will be at 7 p.m. today at the Porter County Visitor Center, off Ind. 49.

Dillon noted that the so-called Swedish district at the National Lakeshore comprises some 800 acres, only 60 to 80 of which are occupied by Chellberg Farm. Also in that district is the Bailly Homestead, a National Historic Landmark, and “we’re really not doing anything there. It’s just empty.” Camp Goodfellow Lodge, he added, is sorely in need of restoration. And next year another farm area across the street from the Chellberg Farm will come into the National Lakeshore. “What are we going to do with that?”

The National Lakeshore gets 2 million visitors every year, Dillon remarked, twice as many as Everglades National Park. “But we’re not as famous as the Everglades,” he said. “There’s no reason why this park shouldn’t be an important part of the local economy. Can we draw people down here”--to Chesterton and Porter--“get them to purchase their services in the communities?”

Take an example, Dillon said, of a “driving tour of historic buildings, some in the park, some in town, like the Westchester Public Library. That’s the sort of thing we want to look at. This hiatus”--from the farm animals--“gives us the opportunity to step back and ask what more can we do.”

“We’d really like to have help from the businesses themselves,” Dillon concluded his presentation. “There are ways to make these connections and I think they’re widely untapped now. How can we get people from the park to Downtown, as well as from the communities to the park?”

“I like the idea of sharing with local communities, bringing the visitors in and out,” said President Emerson DeLaney, R-5th. “It’s an interesting starting point.”

Later in the meeting Charlotte Read expressed her gratitude to the council from the floor for its adoption of the Chellberg Farm resolution. Chellberg Farm, she said, “has been a big part of our area and the National Lakeshore for over 30 years. It’s the second most popular site in the Lakeshore, and Save the Dunes Council and a lot of other people want to see it returned to the way it was.”

Posted 7/28/2009