[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22900]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   100TH ANNIVERSARY OF WHITING PARK

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                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 29, 2009

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure and 
enthusiasm that I take this moment to congratulate the city of Whiting, 
Indiana, in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Whiting Park. 
Throughout the years, Whiting Park has been an integral part of the 
community providing residents with a place to create lasting memories 
while preserving the history of the city. Whiting commemorated this 
extraordinary milestone on July 18, 2009, with a celebration in the 
park presented by the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra.
  In the early 1900s the idea for Whiting Park began to take shape. 
Many activists in the area, at the time, could envision the potential 
for a magnificent park that would serve to bring the community closer 
together. In 1908, Frank Long, Chairman of the City Council Park 
Committee, along with Mayor Fred J. Smith, helped the city to acquire 
22 acres of land bounded by Front and 117th Streets, the New York 
Central Railroad tracks and Lake Michigan. Whiting purchased the land 
from the Forsythe Estate for $75,000. Whiting Park continued to expand, 
and by the 1920s the park included a man-made lagoon, fountains, 
attractive walkways, a baseball diamond, trapshooting facility, tennis 
courts, a playground, and a pavilion used for ballroom dancing and 
different music venues. In addition, a bath house was built for the 
beach lakefront activities, which included two waterslides and a diving 
board. The winter months at the park were filled with ice skaters, 
sledding, and ice hockey games. Over the next two and a half decades, 
thousands of people would flock to Whiting Park for the amenities on 
the land and in the water, all year round making the park one of the 
most popular on the entire lakeshore.
  The next 30 years proved to be a troublesome time for Whiting Park, 
and there were many factors that led to the downfall of the park's 
glorious days of the past. Whiting Park Beach was closed in the late 
1940s due to a high bacteria count in the water. The war emergency, at 
the time, led to limited city and federal funding for the upkeep of the 
park and beach. While there were proposed solutions over the years to 
bring back the Whiting Park of the past, many of them fell through. 
People began to think that the once famous Whiting Park would never be 
restored.
  Finally, in 1977, the Whiting Park and Recreation Board was 
established. Through the efforts of the Parks Department, the beach was 
reopened on August 23, 1981, and came to be known as Whihala Beach 
County Park. The name ``Whihala'' stands for Whiting, Hammond, and Lake 
County Parks Department. With the new beach open, the Whiting Parks 
Department began again to concentrate on restoring the beauty of 
Whiting Park. Over the years, volunteer groups spent much time planting 
new flowers, and restoring the main garden, pond and waterfall area 
near the entrance of the park, bringing the park back to life. Today, 
Whiting Park spans approximately 15 acres and includes playground 
equipment, walking paths, four tennis courts, one baseball diamond, 
picnic facilities, a concession area, a fishing pier, two sand 
volleyball courts, an in-line skate/hockey rink, and a fish pond 
including a waterfall.
  As Whiting Park celebrates its 100th anniversary, there are also many 
innovative plans for the future, including working to become an 
integral part of the proposed Marquette Plan, a project that will 
better utilize Northwest Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline.
  Madam Speaker, I ask you and my other distinguished colleagues to 
join me in honoring and congratulating the city of Whiting on their 
100th anniversary of Whiting Park. Throughout the years, Whiting Park 
has been a historical reminder of a city whose people continue to push 
forward with enthusiasm and faith to return this park to one of the 
most prized recreational lakefronts in the region, just as it was at 
the turn of the century. Their constant dedication and commitment is 
worthy of our deepest admiration.

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