If you’re from Michiana or you’re a fan of Potato Creek State Park near North Liberty, Thursday was a long time coming.
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb joined state Department of Natural Resources staff to celebrate groundbreaking for a new lodge at the park. Local officials had been lobbying the state for decades to build the lodge but the state could never seem to find the money.
But earlier this year Holcomb and the Indiana General Assembly, armed with a nearly $3 billion state budget surplus, earmarked $100 million to finally make the dream a reality.
The 120-room lodge and conference center will be Indiana State Parks' first new lodge built since 1939. It will sit on Worster Lake’s southern shore, where the Whispering Winds Picnic Area is now.
As Holcomb spoke under a rain tent, the trees around the lake were showing their fall colors.
“Bottom line: This view is therapy,” Holcomb said. “No painter could create this on their own as beautiful. So for us to have what the good Lord has blessed us with, and then, in true fashion at a park, leave it a little better than we found it, this is pretty special. So we are all obviously going to remember this day and maybe even more importantly, what comes out of this day.”
The lodge is expected to open in 2026 or 2027.
