Mishawaka filling in basement vaults in old Tribune bureau as part of Mill Street work

MISHAWAKA — Some of the basement vaults along South Mill Street south of Lincoln Way West are being filled in as part of the Third Street Project for utility and right-of-way work.

Construction crews last week began the closure of the basement rooms of the KADA Center, formerly the Mishawaka office of The South Bend Tribune, at Mill and Lincoln Way West. The walls were closed off, and crews said the holes from the rooms will be filled in and sidewalks and parkway improvements will be made to mirror the west side of South Mill Street.

Project explained: Parts of Mill, Third streets to be closed for Mishawaka road improvement

The work has a tentative completion date on Mill Street of early June.

Vaults are vestiges of old building construction. According to Corey VanLuchene, structural engineer with DLZ Indiana who is involved in the Third Street Project, vaults often were places to store coal for boilers that may have been used in the buildings.

"Often, the spaces may have been renovated for other uses," VanLuchene said. In the case of the Mill Street building, the vaults became restrooms.

He said the vaults most often are found on buildings on "main street," in the centers of cities and towns.

While there are vaults that can be used for utility runs, the walls of the building in Mishawaka are being made secure while the vaults get filled in.

The project also is seing work along East Third Street between South Main and Church streets and the segment from Church to Race Street. Those segments are closed until the project is finished in early October.

The building on Lincoln Way West and Mill Street served as the Mishawaka office of the South Bend Tribune for decades until the news staff was moved in 2009 to the WSBT-TV/Schurz Headquarters on Douglas Road.

During its time as a Tribune bureau, the building was the scene of a murder. On Dec. 15, 1980, Tribune reporter Mary Collins Kretschmar, 26 years old and five months pregnant, was beaten and strangled to death in the office.

Ron K. Whitehead, a 16-year-old who was working for his father's cleaning service inside The Tribune, was arrested and convicted of murder. While serving a 54-year prison sentence, Whitehead killed himself with a razor blade in 1996.

After The Tribune moved out in 2009, the building was eventually sold and became the KADA Training Center for McDonald's restaurants.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mishawaka filling in basement vaults of old Tribune office on Mill St.