When lane restrictions begin Monday along Sample Street near South Bend Police Headquarters, many months of preparation for demolition of a prominent structure in the former Studebaker Corridor will become visible.

The former South Bend Lathe Plant, a 500,000-square-foot structure at 400 W. Sample St., will begin coming down over the next few months. The building is the most visible remnant of the Studebaker complex, obscuring acres of already cleared land from the daily view of motorists.

One lane of traffic will flow in each direction May 19-30 as crews begin removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials in Phase I of work before beginning on demolition of the structure itself in June.

"This demolition will have a very visible impact on the entire area. It will open up the land for new jobs, new investment and new pride," Mayor Stephen J. Luecke said. "With the decision by the world's leading computer-chip makers to invest in key nanoelectronics research in our area, we are preparing the former Studebaker corridor for the commercialization of that research. In the same way that the railroads, the Oliver Chilled Plow and the Studebaker automobile changed this city, the Midwest Academy for Nanoelectronics and Architectures will move us into a new age and a new international prominence."

When the Studebaker Corridor is cleared, the site will be prepared as a new campus for industries that will commercialize the findings of nanoelectronics research at the Midwest Academy for Nanoelectronics and Architectures at the University of Notre Dame. In March, Notre Dame was selected by a consortium of the world's leading computer chip makers to host the fourth, and probably the final, U.S. nanoelectronics research center.

The City of South Bend, beyond commitments made with Notre Dame and the state to secure the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative, will invest tens of millions of dollars to support nanoelectronics commercialization in the former Studebaker corridor. IBM, Intel and officials from firms in the consortium said the city's commitment was key in locating a fourth center in the South Bend area.

The 82-acre Studebaker site, southeast of Chapin and Sample streets, is being developed following intense community planning efforts since 2000 to remove former industrial buildings and remediate the state's largest brownfield site. Along with Innovation Park @ Notre Dame, a 12-acre site south of campus at Edison Road and Twyckenham Drive, the former Studebaker Corridor is part of the City of South Bend's application for the first two-site State Certified Technology Park in Indiana.

In January, Michigan-based J&L Management Corp. was awarded a $2.9 million contract to demolish the former South Bend Lathe facility. Not only was the firm the lowest of six contractors bidding in a range that reached nearly $10 million, J&L Management in interviews with city officials agreed to complete what was projected to be an 18-month project in 12 months.

This 15-acre site represents about 20 percent of land and structures in the Studebaker corridor's Area A. The project will bring the total demolition in the entire Studebaker corridor to nearly 2 million square feet with another 1 million square feet in the Oliver Plow area.

The former South Bend Lathe facility was built in 1917 as the machine shop and engine plant of the Studebaker Corp., with additions in the 1930s and 1950s. South Bend Lathe moved to the site in 1965 when Studebaker went out of business. The firm grew to become the world's leading manufacturer of precision lathes, employing 900 at its peak. South Bend Lathe stopped production on the site in May 2002.

The Sample Street facility has been vacant since 2003, but South Bend Lathe has continued to provide jobs in the community from a new location on Bendix Drive near the airport.

Contact:  Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 or Ann Kolata, Senior Redevelopment Specialist, 235-9371