How Notre Dame, South Bend and Indiana are working together like never before
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SOUTH BEND — Here along the southern edge of the University of Notre Dame’s iconic world-renowned campus, a fresh vibe spills across Angela Boulevard from both directions.
Once a distinct boundary between the world-class college and working-class South Bend, the now vibrant corridor has evolved into a connector of communities rather than a divide.
Notre Dame President The Rev. John I. Jenkins refers to the stretch as “the front yard of the university,” as it symbolizes the profound and deliberate effort to not only interact with, but champion the success of the city around it.
“One thing clear to me early on was that Notre Dame was not going to flourish if the community didn’t flourish,” Jenkins said. “It’s important to attracting faculty and new students who want to come to a place that is vibrant.”
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Jenkins, 70, is retiring as the university’s leader on June 1 after 19 years in the office. One of his lasting legacies will be Notre Dame’s growing commitment to bolstering the relationship between South Bend and the northern Indiana region.
That commitment doesn’t seem lost on those with a stake in the welfare of South Bend.
“From day one Father John has made an intentional commitment to not only be a force for good around the world, but here in our own community,” said Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce since 2010. “I give Father John the credit for building that culture at the university and inspiring the team under him to become super involved in the community around them and help solve local problems.”
The former Mishawaka mayor pointed to the development of Eddy Street Commons directly south of Angela Boulevard as an example of how campus life is flowing deeper into the heart of South Bend.
The now completed three-phase mixed-use development first opened in 2009. It contains 450 apartments and townhomes, retail, restaurants, hotels, office space and a long-awaited Trader Joes’s grocery store.
Just east of the Twyckenham Drive bypass, a new $100 million redevelopment of Campus View apartments is nearing completion, adding 328 new apartments. A little farther south near the old, “Five Points” intersection where South Bend Avenue now curves into Eddy Street, prep is underway for another four story, 100-unit apartment building.
All of which illustrates people's desire to come to South Bend and invest in being close to campus.
“In so far that the community is stronger, Notre Dame is stronger; and in so far that the community is not, we have challenges,” Jenkins said. “... Right now I feel there is a great partnership at work in this region to make it as strong as possible.”
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb can feel it. Finishing up his eight years leading the state, the Republican has often leaned on Jenkins and Notre Dame to advance the state’s interests and economic standing, crediting the university for “burying the mote around campus,” and helping to solve 21st century problems, not as a “think” tank, but an action “tank.”
That, he says, starts by embracing those around it.
“Notre Dame has become a model as a community hub,” Holcomb said. “It’s a fountain of talent and creativity and vibrancy and volunteerism. You have people serving on community boards. They have become part of the community fabric.”
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Taking research to a new level for Notre Dame and South Bend
Even more than the residual development around campus and its surrounding neighborhoods is Notre Dame’s impact on business, especially start-ups coming from the university’s Innovation Park and the IDEA Center between Angela and South Bend Avenue.
That, Rea insists, is the engine powering Notre Dame, already St. Joseph County's largest employer, into the top economic development driver of the region.
Opened in 2009, Innovation Park is an entrepreneurship hub home to approximately 60 companies, many of them startups. The IDEA Center’s mission in managing Innovation is to help bring research and ideas of Notre Dame faculty and students to market.
Furthermore, Innovation Park is a partner with the city-owned Ignition Park south of Sample Street on the site of Studebaker’s former engine production plant. Both are state certified with the hope that Ignition Park will be a landing pad for Innovation Park start-ups once they mature.
“Partnership,” Jenkins stresses, is the key word and objective.
“I remember an early conversation before I became president when someone said that Notre Dame has to stop thinking of South Bend as its service project or charity,” Jenkins said. “That really stuck with me.
“The local community — South Bend and the region — are our partners and we have to join to make this region the best place that it can be. That’s in terms of cultural events, living experience and economic vitality.”
Most recently that vitality was quantified in a 2018 study of Notre Dame’s economic impact in the region, drawing data from fiscal 2017. All told, according to the report, the university generates $2.46 billion annually for St. Joseph, Elkhart and Marshall counties.
Obviously that impact has increased in the years since with continued construction projects, athletic success and research momentum.
“Father Jenkins understood how the city and the university can work together,” explained South Bend Mayor James Mueller, now in his second term. “We’ve had a great working relationship. He’s very thoughtful, kind and a great partner to have. When you’re talking about doing big things you need the trust of a partner who’s committed.”
More: Rev. Robert A. Dowd to replace Jenkins in July as president of University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame's renewed commitment to South Bend
Punctuating that commitment is Part III, section D of Notre Dame’s most recent strategic framework. For the first time in the school’s history the mission document addresses direct engagement with the South Bend Community and the state.
“In the modern knowledge economy, the advancement of any global research university is wedded to the capacity of the surrounding community,” the report reads. “... It is now clearer than ever before that for Notre Dame to thrive, the South Bend region must also prosper. And a more prosperous South Bend strengthens Notre Dame.”
Those who work closely with Jenkins can almost hear his voice in that passage.
Holcomb can recite the examples from the Statehouse 150 miles south in Indianapolis, describing them as “bucket-list” experiences.
Notre Dame football games. Garth Brooks and Billy Joel concerts. An NHL “Winter Classic” hockey game. Countless world-class plays and performances at the DeBartalo Performing Arts Center.
“All that works hand and glove, “Holcomb said. “We’re better off when we’re working in unison — a city or town and a university or college — for a shared purpose. That’s when the community’s vibrancy becomes obvious and easy to sell.”
Mueller sees it every day as the city and university integrate beyond campus.
It may start at the weld between campus and Eddy Street Commons, but is punctuated by a new bike/pedestrian trail linking campus to downtown, continued revitalization of northeast neighborhoods and the research partnership between Innovation and Ignition parks.
Lynn Coleman, a former assistant Mayor of South Bend under Stephen Luecke (1997-2012) has long been a leader and advocate of the city's Black community. He says he's always had a great relationship with Notre Dame and Father Jenkins, but does wonder if the university can do more to help advance the community's minority populations.
In 2001 Notre Dame opened the Robinson Community Learning Center south of campus to connect the university of with the Northeast Neighborhood community through education, access to the arts and civic engagement.
"I can't imagine what South Bend would be without Notre Dame," Coleman said. "The Black community here is better off because we have Notre Dame. That said, could Notre Dame be doing more? Probably. Father Jenkins has been great, and I hope Father Dowd will take off the mantle and continue to improve those relationships."
Coleman added that he and various other community organizations such as The Boys & Girls Club and LA Casa de Amistad met last month with Notre Dame representatives at the Robinson Learning Center to talk about how to continue to try and meet areas of community need.
Connecting with downtown is a need that Mueller is excited about as he emphasized Notre Dame's purchase of the former South Bend Tribune building at the intersection of Lafayette Boulevard and Colfax Avenue with the intent of investing in the city’s center.
“The stage is set here,” Mueller said, “for truly a transformational partnership that will elevate both the university and the city.”
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That’s why, Jenkins explained, that the free-flowing community connection around Angela Boulevard providing easy community access to the university’s art, sports and culture is so vital.
It's a physical, emotional and even spiritual bond between the two.
"We’re proud to be part of this community,” Jenkins said. “Notre Dame’s best years are ahead. I’d also say that for the region and for South Bend. If we can continue the partnership we’ve forged, this is a vibrant, vital, dynamic place to live and to work.”
Michael Wanbaugh is an editor at the South Bend Tribune. Email at mwanbaugh@sbtinfo.com or follow on Twitter @MWanbaugh.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: University of Notre Dame, South Bend and Indiana work together
