Many people were relieved in October when Notre Dame announced it had bought the former South Bend Tribune building downtown.
Now the university has announced its plans for the historic structure.
Technology has changed the South Bend Tribune, like all newspapers, into a largely digital source of local news. The Tribune shuttered its printing press in 2017 and moved out of its building altogether in 2019 for smaller spaces elsewhere downtown.
Now technology could give new life to the old brick building at Colfax and Lafayette.
On Monday Notre Dame announced it’s won a $30 million Lilly Endowment grant to transform the building into the Downtown South Bend Tech and Talent Hub.
The university envisions collaborating with industry to advance applied research in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and advanced computing.
Notre Dame says it’s inspired by the success of the Research Triangle in Durham and Raleigh, North Carolina, where Duke University, the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University have found ways to commercialize academic research and grow jobs.
Willow Wetherall is executive director of Downtown South Bend Inc., the city-funded nonprofit. She says Notre Dame’s purchase of the property already had sparked interest from firms wanting to be nearby, and this news should only increase that interest.
"Obviously Notre Dame has made a renewed commitment to South Bend and the region over the past few years but this commitment of a substantial physical presence downtown just takes things to the next level," Wetherall said.
