On Wednesday, January 15, Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas delivered his 2025 State of the City Address at the Valpo Chamber’s Annual Meeting. Over 400 elected officials and representatives of local businesses gathered in the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso to hear the mayor’s words. NITCO, Family Express, and Northwest Health were the event’s presenting sponsors.
Before sharing his vision for Valpo’s future with the attendees, Costas recounted several important projects and events that took place in 2024. These included the completion of the city’s largest ever series of roadway improvements. This $9 million project saw the improvement of a number of Valpo’s collector, arterial, and neighborhood streets. Costas also introduced some highlights for 2025, including another year of record paving, the Community Conference on April 17, the purchase of the former McGill Manufacturing building to be transformed into a community center, and a $10 million Parks initiative called rePLAY.
RePLAY will upgrade and enhance up to 10 of the city’s timeless, existing parks, adding four new pickle ball courts at ValPlayso to replace the aging courts at Kirchhoff Park, adding shelters and bathrooms and pathways, plus parking and lighting and playground equipment. The projects chosen are the result of ongoing public input and the Parks Master Plan, with an eye toward the future. “The places we remember will continue to be the places where we make new memories,” said Costas. Complete plans will be unveiled by Valpo Parks in the coming weeks.
Nick Larson, 2024 Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce board chair, reviewed some of the chamber’s accomplishments over the past year. These included supporting tax abatements for projects like the Lake Cable expansion and Indiana Beverage’s Bluejay II building.
Mayor Costas' full remarks are available online here.
Costas also shared updates about the progression of the Grand Gardner Hotel construction project. Upon its completion, the Gardner School building, which was built in 1899, will be transformed into the Region’s first Boutique Hotel. He also mentioned the addition of three new low-ride buses to the V-Line fleet, which will make bus travel in Valparaiso even more accessible.
Costas is optimistic that the future will be bright for Valparaiso in the coming year.
“Today is about celebrating the victories we achieved for our city in 2024 as well as looking ahead to the progress yet to come,” he said. “As I look around, I am struck once again by the collective talent and energy in this room. It's easy to be optimistic in the midst of so many positive leaders and caring residents. We have one of the most, if not the most, effective city leadership teams in the state, and we all benefit greatly from their talent, expertise, and dedication. There are many reasons to be excited about 2025. I'm immensely proud to say that the state of our union in Valparaiso is strong, and I consider it a privilege to serve as its mayor.”
You can learn more about what’s in store for the City of Valparaiso in 2025 by visiting ci.valparaiso.in.us.
