When we sell public lands for private development, we, as a community, very rarely have a chance to get those spaces back. These are spaces for all of us to enjoy, learn in and from, and that provide respite and safe habitat for flora and fauna that are necessary. If we sell this land to a developer, we all lose. That isn’t to say we can’t make room for a school to own a portion of this property, but if we do, let’s make sure the public maintains and owns the rest.
This is why I beg of you to attend the public meeting on April 28, 2026, at 11:00 A.M. on the fourth floor of the County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd, South Bend, IN 46601. Come be heard, or if you cannot attend in person, email the Board of Commissioners here: sjccom@sjcindiana.com.
What: Public Hearing by the County Board of Commissioners to Dispose of Public Lands
When: April 28, 2026
Time: 11 a.m.
Where: Fourth Floor County-City Building (227 W. Jefferson Blvd, South Bend, IN 46601)
If you want to see how I came to care about this issue, keep reading.
I met Derek Dieter because I thought I didn’t agree with him on anything, so I wrote to him saying I was unhappy with his work and politics. He told me to come out and see what he was doing, and if I still disagreed with him, that was fine.
So, a bit over two years ago, I met Dieter at the site of the former Portage Manor, and he gave me a tour of the building, which no doubt needed a great deal of work. Some of the spaces told of a tragic past of mental health care, but other spaces told of the religious concern and care taken by the caretakers on behalf of the residents. Still other spaces showed best-faith efforts to care for those housed at Portage Manor, but the facilities clearly no longer met the needs and standards of that population. This realization pained me because I had former classmates whose family members had been relocated from this facility, knew people who had lived there three or four decades earlier, and people who had occasionally played music for residents there during my high school and college years. Yet it was clear that Dieter and others who pushed for the property’s closure were correct in their assessment of that community’s best interests.
Dieter then took me around the truly amazing property. We saw dozens of wildlife species, big and small. We walked to one of the few remaining places where the Kankakee marshland drainage waters occasionally flow into the mighty St. Joseph River. We viewed flora and fauna nearly unseen in the modern cityscape of South Bend, and Dieter then showed me his hopes and dreams for the property. He imagined extensions of the trail system that he personally began to care for and create. Places where hikers, mountain bikers, and more might enjoy real recreation opportunities. Places where citizens might walk down to study turtles, fish, deer, flowers, native grasses, and so much more. He excitedly showed me that the property for the trails was already adjacent to the city’s river trails. He imagined citizens deciding on other uses for the property, too, possibly frisbee golf, picnic areas, and maybe permit only snowmobile access.
He talked passionately about people with different learning styles who might benefit from an outdoor school that utilized future-repaired and upgraded, structurally sound Portage Manor buildings. He imagined that there could be goats, maybe chickens, and other animals as part of the school. That students might learn about nature immediately adjacent to them and learn to care for those natural systems, and perhaps later grow into careers where they do the same. We discussed the opportunities for students to learn from and with the Pokégnek Bodéwadmik (Pokagon Potawatomi) about their history in this landscape, and from all they’ve done as a nation to restore native plants, food sources, and grasses. We discussed the region’s immediate proximity to French history, with the LaSalle landing site. A place where René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, landed with a landing party of at least 30 men in December 1679, here at the south bend of the river. We noted that this was before the birth of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, or Thomas Jefferson. We talked about how students might learn about the entire Atlantic world in that era, in this context, and about our community’s connection to that Atlantic world in that era and in later periods as well.
Our shared interest in the outdoors, education, and environmental protection far outweighed any preconceived political notions I had about Dieter. The whole experience was a reminder to get to know the person and their motivations and to always, always pay attention to perspective so that we might learn and expand our own worldview.
I hope readers and any interested parties might come out and share their thoughts, from any perspective, with the County Council members at the meeting on the future of this property on April 28th at 11:00 A.M. on the fourth floor of the County-City Building at 227 W Jefferson Blvd, South Bend, IN 46601. If you can’t make the meeting, please consider writing to your County Commissioners to be heard. Their information can be found on the St. Joseph County website or by clicking here. You can be assured that all three representatives will hear from you by sending an email to sjccom@sjcindiana.com. The three voting members making this decision are Carl H. Baxmeyer, President, Rafael Morton, and Anthony “Tony” Hazen, Vice President. We need all three of them to truly understand the opportunity to preserve this space.
We only have one chance for the next 150 or so years to preserve this property and space; it’s incumbent on our generation of voters and taxpayers that we get it right.
© 2026 Brian S Collier. All opinions are those of the author. The author reserves all Rights and copyrights. To request permission to reprint any or all of this article, contact info@redresssouthbend.com.
Reprinted with permission of the author by Redress South Bend.
All opinions and views in this piece are attributed to the author and are not necessarily the thoughts or opinions of Redress South Bend.
