Tucked away near the Town’s Pruzin Center, where the Merrillville Parks & Recreation office is located as well as the Public Works Department north storage barn is an old double-wide mobile home trailer that was used years ago as the Merrillville Emergency Medical Services office and ambulance garage.
Paramedics were dispatched from that location to take care of calls on the north side of town. Town employees would station there, sleep during long shifts similar to what firefighters do while on duty. The building has not been used for many years and although it was used in the past for firefighter training, it is no longer used.
The town council agreed to raze the building and have the site completely cleaned up. I walked through the building with Councilman Leonard White and although we were wearing masks, it was a bit scary to even be walking around inside on top of the mess that was inside. We did not stay inside very long!
I am pleased to see this town owned property being cleaned and cleared. The town will be reviewing all codes to tighten and strengthen existing codes to clean up blight and other issues in town like illegal dumping. It’s good to get our own house in order first! -Rick Bella for The Town of Merrillville
