This is the final week to catch our CommUNITY Station show in Gary, Indiana that closes on Feb. 4, featuring student work, the Decay Devils and a silent auction. During the 2017 Fall semester, we worked with architectural graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to design a new structure around Gary’s long abandoned Union Station. Since Jan. 12, our students have shared prints, 3D models and video walk throughs illustrating ideas to transform Gary’s Union Station. In partnership, the Decay Devils also have been presenting their artistic work reflecting their mission to revive Gary.

husArchitecture facilitated the partnership between the UIUC students and the Decay Devils. Early in 2017 the Decay Devils were awarded a grant to facilitate the cleaning up of the Union Station and in the fall of that year husARchitecture brought in UIUC students to work on CommUNITY Station. The event, CommUNITY Station, is the student body of work that expands on the the Decay Devils’ grant. This work is twofold, as a way to offer the community ideas for growth and giving our students, who view issues in Gary with fresh eyes, real world experience designing for this community.

2017 Fall UIUC School of Architecture Graduate studio project overview for the revitalization of Gary, IN Union Station.

During this final week of the CommUNITY Station exhibit you will experience our students’ proposed designs. They include a health center complete with meditation gardens, arts and education center, commercial complex and a community bike hub. These designs will serve as a jumping off point for the rebuilding of the Union Station site.

UIUC graduate student in front of Gary's Union Station, 185 Broadway, built in 1910 soon after Gary was founded. This major stop for steel mill workers during the first half of the 20th century was last used in the 1950s. Today the structure stands … — UIUC graduate student in front of Gary's Union Station, 185 Broadway, built in 1910 soon after Gary was founded. This major stop for steel mill workers during the first half of the 20th century was last used in the 1950s. Today the structure stands as a relic of the once booming steel industry.

We are so happy to have had a chance to work with the Decay Devils, MIller Beach Historical Society, ReHabitatie, US Steel, Gary Poetry Project, Aquatorium, Ayers Reality, The City of Gary and the U of I, as these partnerships were essential to get in touch with the community in Gary. After the decline of the once giant Steel City, we can envision a future Gary through the rehabilitation of a beautiful, historic structure.