Today's Times reports there's a petition circulating in East Chicago, after word that oil giant BP was looking into the possibility of buying property in north Lake County's historic Marktown neighborhood. More than fifty people gathered at the Marktown Community Center last night to discuss the issue, with one resident saying she's concerned about people selling their homes. The story says the petition calls on the city to implement the Marktown Revitalization Plan drawn up about five years ago and for the community and area industry to help Marktown restore its architectural heritage.
Designed by renowned Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1917 in the style of an English village as corporate or industrial housing for Chicago industrialist Clayton Mark's Mark Manufacturing, the East Chicago neighborhood eventually landed on the National Register of Historic Places. Among its unique features – it was included in Ripley's Believe It or Not as the only town in North America where people park their cars on sidewalks and walk on the streets.
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