The demise of the center of countless Gary memories is tragic
Crusader Staff
Photo caption: THE ARENA NAMED after the city’s mayor of two decades left in shambles.
Discovering the abysmal condition of the Gary Genesis Convention and Exhibition Center was like finding out an old friend or distant relative was struggling in the ICU, suffering some debilitating condition, breathing only with the aid of a respirator and dangling precariously between life and death.
It was always sad when the schools I attended closed. Garnett Elementary. Beckman Middle School. And, of course, the legendary Gary Roosevelt High School. Humans become attached to places and things dear to them in their formative years. These are much more than mere buildings. No matter how sound the reasoning, seeing them go is painful.
Gary photographer Ted Brown, and someone on Facebook I’ve never even met named Taylor Jackson, posted photos on Facebook that revealed the deplorable condition of the Genesis Center. I was shocked and saddened to see the public edifice, once the pride of G.I., virtually gutted. What happened?
THE RED RIBBON Lounge was once a midweek afterwork maninstay of G.I. professionals.
For tens of thousands of Gary natives, this is heartbreaking. Anyone who experienced the heyday of the center takes this unnerving development personally. The devastating photographs force reflection on better times and all the memories conjured from that Gary landmark.
It was only four years ago I was there for the homegoing ceremony of the Honorable Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher, the catalyst for construction and utilization of the Genesis Center during his 20 years in City Hall sitting directly across the street on Broadway.
In the arena that bears his name, Hatcher was eulogized by luminaries like the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Minister Louis Farrakhan, whose lives he impacted. In happier times, Mayor Hatcher’s signature annual gala, “An Evening to Remember,” filled the building and the atmosphere.
SOME SAY THIEVES stole all the copper from the building.
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls played exhibition games at the Genesis. Indiana University Coach Bobby Knight brought the Hurryin’ Hoosiers to Northwest Indiana to play in the Center. When the Indiana Pacers joined the NBA from the American Basketball Association, they tried to woo Northwest Indiana hoop fans, bringing their game to town.
There were too many concerts to name at the Genesis Center. I took my daughter Bridget and her grade school friends there for their first live show to see New Edition in 1989. It was on the same stage that brought greats like Whitney Houston, Ice Cube, Ludacris, George Clinton, Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Morris Day and the Time, as well as PRINCE and The Revolution on November 19, 1982!
Reverend Charles Williams and the Indiana Black Expo brought the national broadcast of the mega popular BET show “Rap City” to air live from the Genesis Center in 1990 and 1991. Both years, my Gary Area Career Center Radio-TV students co-hosted the broadcast.
Yes, this is personal.
I heard Chicago Mayor Harold Washington speak at the center. I handled marketing for the first two Civil Rights Museum and Hall of Fame Telethons held there. Al Boswell and I staged the Miss Gary Scholarship Pageant at the Genesis. Producers of Gary’s celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Holiday invited me to moderate the program before 10,000 people at the Center. I interviewed Dick Gregory and other celebs there.
CONCERTS, SPORTING, CONVENTIONS and social events packed the areana to the rafters in the center’s heyday.
The demise of the venue is a sad development for so many who share Genesis Center reflections. But who knows? Maybe some ambitious entrepreneur with deep pockets and good intentions will come to town and recognize the still tremendous potential of such a well-organized facility located between the shores of Lake Michigan and Chicago. Maybe local investors will make a move. Who knows?
But for the moment, it feels like another sad story for a city that just hasn’t had nearly its share of happy endings.
Vernon A. Williams
CITY CONNECTION by Vernon A. Williams is a series of essays on myriad topics that include social issues, human interest, entertainment and profiles of difference-makers who are forging change in a constantly evolving society. Williams is a 40-year veteran journalist based in Indianapolis, IN – commonly referred to as The Circle City. Send comments or questions to: [email protected].
The demise of the center of countless Gary memories is tragic
Photo caption: THE ARENA NAMED after the city’s mayor of two decades left in shambles.
Discovering the abysmal condition of the Gary Genesis Convention and Exhibition Center was like finding out an old friend or distant relative was struggling in the ICU, suffering some debilitating condition, breathing only with the aid of a respirator and dangling precariously between life and death.
It was always sad when the schools I attended closed. Garnett Elementary. Beckman Middle School. And, of course, the legendary Gary Roosevelt High School. Humans become attached to places and things dear to them in their formative years. These are much more than mere buildings. No matter how sound the reasoning, seeing them go is painful.
Gary photographer Ted Brown, and someone on Facebook I’ve never even met named Taylor Jackson, posted photos on Facebook that revealed the deplorable condition of the Genesis Center. I was shocked and saddened to see the public edifice, once the pride of G.I., virtually gutted. What happened?
For tens of thousands of Gary natives, this is heartbreaking. Anyone who experienced the heyday of the center takes this unnerving development personally. The devastating photographs force reflection on better times and all the memories conjured from that Gary landmark.
It was only four years ago I was there for the homegoing ceremony of the Honorable Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher, the catalyst for construction and utilization of the Genesis Center during his 20 years in City Hall sitting directly across the street on Broadway.
In the arena that bears his name, Hatcher was eulogized by luminaries like the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Minister Louis Farrakhan, whose lives he impacted. In happier times, Mayor Hatcher’s signature annual gala, “An Evening to Remember,” filled the building and the atmosphere.
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls played exhibition games at the Genesis. Indiana University Coach Bobby Knight brought the Hurryin’ Hoosiers to Northwest Indiana to play in the Center. When the Indiana Pacers joined the NBA from the American Basketball Association, they tried to woo Northwest Indiana hoop fans, bringing their game to town.
There were too many concerts to name at the Genesis Center. I took my daughter Bridget and her grade school friends there for their first live show to see New Edition in 1989. It was on the same stage that brought greats like Whitney Houston, Ice Cube, Ludacris, George Clinton, Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Morris Day and the Time, as well as PRINCE and The Revolution on November 19, 1982!
Reverend Charles Williams and the Indiana Black Expo brought the national broadcast of the mega popular BET show “Rap City” to air live from the Genesis Center in 1990 and 1991. Both years, my Gary Area Career Center Radio-TV students co-hosted the broadcast.
Yes, this is personal.
I heard Chicago Mayor Harold Washington speak at the center. I handled marketing for the first two Civil Rights Museum and Hall of Fame Telethons held there. Al Boswell and I staged the Miss Gary Scholarship Pageant at the Genesis. Producers of Gary’s celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Holiday invited me to moderate the program before 10,000 people at the Center. I interviewed Dick Gregory and other celebs there.
The demise of the venue is a sad development for so many who share Genesis Center reflections. But who knows? Maybe some ambitious entrepreneur with deep pockets and good intentions will come to town and recognize the still tremendous potential of such a well-organized facility located between the shores of Lake Michigan and Chicago. Maybe local investors will make a move. Who knows?
But for the moment, it feels like another sad story for a city that just hasn’t had nearly its share of happy endings.
CITY CONNECTION by Vernon A. Williams is a series of essays on myriad topics that include social issues, human interest, entertainment and profiles of difference-makers who are forging change in a constantly evolving society. Williams is a 40-year veteran journalist based in Indianapolis, IN – commonly referred to as The Circle City. Send comments or questions to: [email protected].
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