HAMMOND — The John Dillinger Museum long displayed the history of the notorious bank robber at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond, displaying artifacts like the wooden gun he infamously used to escape from jail and a replica of the bright neon marquee of the Biograph Theater where the FBI gunned him down.
In 2014, it moved to the basement of the Crown Point Courthouse where he was once arraigned, just down the street from the Old Lake County Jail he infamously broke out of after whittling wood into the shape of a pistol and bluffing the guards.
But three years later, it abruptly closed.
The closing was so abrupt one Chicago television station ran the headline "Like Its Namesake, John Dillinger Museum Meets Sudden, Shocking End."
Since then, memorabilia like a photo of Dillinger's lifeless face, one of his submachine guns and the wicker body basket used to move his corpse after federal agents shot him dead have been sitting in storage in Dyer.
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The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority is looking to potentially unload the Dillinger memorabilia.
Board member Tom Dabertin said he has reached out to Chicago museums to gauge interest and assess the potential value of Dillinger artifacts, such as a wanted poster describing Dillinger as a "mad dog" and "Public Enemy No. 1" and his original tombstone from Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.
The Old Sheriff's House Foundation, which operates the Old Sheriff's House and Jail in downtown Crown Point, has inquired about acquiring the entire collection, which has been kept in tact.
SSCVA Board President Andy Qunell said his preference would be to keep the collection in Northwest Indiana. Crown Point would be an ideal spot given its connection with Dillinger, he said.
"Crown Point was where it all happened," Qunell said. "A lot of the big events with Dillinger happened right there."
The Old Sheriff's House Foundation, real estate agent Roger Pace and car collector Mark Love also are looking for somewhere in Crown Point to display Lake County Sheriff Lillian Hatch Holley's car that Dillinger stole during his escape. After returning to Crown Point in a parade filmed by the Discovery Channel in April, the historic vehicle is now on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn, Indiana.
"The public can view it there," Pace said. "It's temporary until it finds a home here in Crown Point."
Before the SSCVA finds a new home for its collection of Dillinger memorabilia, it will grant the request of a Dillinger descendent to get a sample of a bloodstain in the pocket of the pants he was wearing when the Federal Bureau of Investigation mowed him down in a hail of gunfire. Dillinger's family hopes to extract DNA to corroborate that items found in his home authentically belonged to him.
"The benefit to us is that it verifies the pants were his," Interim CEO Cathy Svetanoff said.
In other business at the SSCVA's Thursday meeting at the Hammond Sportsplex, the board also decided to pass on a chance to buy up the collection of the Museum of Pinball that just closed in Southern California. Its vast collection of vintage pinball machines is being auctioned off.
The board elected to pass and instead pass on the opportunity to the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting and others.
Qunell expressed concerns there wasn't a strong enough tie to the Region.
"I don't know that we need to be in the museum business as a whole," board member Brent Brashier said.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: SoHo Sweets Creamery, Balkan grocer, Filipino restaurant, dental office and furniture store open; Pepe's closes
Open
Soho isn't just a trendy neighborhood in New York City or London anymore.
SoHo Sweets Creamery and Cafe is now serving scoops of ice cream in downtown South Holland.
The ice cream shop and cafe moved into a historic home at 16129 South Park Avenue. It serves Sherman's ice cream, breakfast, lunch and Smalltown Coffee from Crown Point.
It offers takeout and dine-in in a modern but quaint ambiance.
SoHo Sweets Creamery and Cafe sells ice cream by the scoop, ice cream sandwiches, shakes, hot fudge sundaes and root beer floats. The coffee menu includes drip coffee, cold brew, espresso, mocha, latte and Americana.
Food offerings are light, such as a breakfast burrito, smoked gouda and egg on a house-made biscuit, Cajun biscuits and gravy, a parfait, an egg and cheddar croissant and brown sugar bourbon oatmeal.
SoHo Sweets is open from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Open
A new Balkan grocer is offering imported ethnic fare in Northwest Indiana.
Aroma Euro Market opened in Lincoln Ridge Plaza on U.S. 30, about a mile east of U.S. 41. The small market, which is locally owned and operated by the Krajisnik family, leased 2,100 square feet at 212 W. Lincoln Highway.
It aspires to be Northwest Indiana’s go-to spot for all things Balkan.
“We are very happy to open in this highly trafficked plaza. Aroma is a perfect fit for the area," said Myles Rapchack with Latitude Commercial, which represented Aroma Euro Market in the deal. "I have no doubt they will be extremely successful as their passion for the business showed throughout the entire process. They are going to be a great addition to Schererville and the surrounding communities.”
The store has an extensive deli selling a wide variety of sausages, bacon and other cured meats. It sells a variety of imported groceries from Eastern Europe, including mineral water, juices, sauces, seasonings, soup stocks, pasta, sweets and breakfast cereals. It also carries wine, coffee, tea, pickled fish, vegetables and cooking pans.
Aroma Euro Market is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Coming soon
Hammond's Couch Potato Furniture is now permanently inert, but it will soon be replaced by a new furniture store.
Icon Home Furniture plans to open in the former Couch Potato Furniture space at 7111 Indianapolis Boulevard in Hammond.
The retailer signed a long-term lease for the 11,500-square-foot storefront, which has been used as a furniture store since it was built in 1956. Icon Home Furniture will sell couches, dinner tables, dressers, beds and other furniture to the local neighborhood market.
“With its large showroom and open space design, this is an ideal location for a furniture store," said Antony Miocic of Crown Point-based Latitude Commercial, which brokered the transaction. "Hammond residents may remember this building as being Leonard’s Furniture for many years. I hope Icon Home Furniture stays with the community as long as Leonard’s did."
Open
Tropical Islands Cuisine is bringing "food and traditions closer to home" in Merrillville.
The restaurant at 40 W. 80th Place in Merrillville specializes in authentic Filipino-Asian cuisine like boodle sa biloa, crispy seafood kare-kare, lechon kawali, chicken curry, tropical chicken inasal, pinoy barbecue, pritong isda, pork adobo, menudo, eggrolls, noodles and jasmine rice. It offers an array of seafood, pork and pinoy dishes, as well as tropical house specials. One can get squid grilled in banana leaves, Filipino sweet-style spaghetti with Siopao pork asado or pork asado in steamed buns.
Tropical Islands Cuisine also offers smoothies, bubble teas, desserts and tropical fusion juices. It has a bar with karaoke and an Asian grocery store.
The restaurant has a buffet on Sundays and delivers free within five-miles with a minimum order of $50, so long as customers tip the delivery driver.
For more information, call 219-262-7890, email tropicalislandsllc@gmail.com or find the business on Facebook.
Open
Smiles on Randolph opened "Indiana's state-of-the-art dental med spa" on U.S. 30 in unincorporated Crown Point, just east of the Hobart city limit.
Dr. Chanbo Sim is the head of the 10,000-square-foot two-story facility at 8000 E. Lincoln Hwy. The newly constructed building features 25 dental rooms, a large conference room and private patient reception areas with the aim of providing an upscale experience.
Smiles on Randolph offers a wide array of dental services, including general dentistry, emergency surgery, restorative dentistry, cosmetic procedures and orthodontics. It also provides cosmetic services like botox fillers, coolsculpting and cold sore laster treatment.
The dental office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, visit smilesonrandolph.com or call 219-356-8000.
Relocating
NWI Eye & Laser Center is relocating to a new location at 851 Eastport Centre Drive in Valparaiso.
Chester Architectural & Construction Services will soon break ground on a new building for the eye care center.
NWI Eye & Laser Center offers an array of eye care services, including eye exams, eyeglasses, eye surgery, eye disease treatment and LASIK corrective procedures.
For more information, call 219-464-8223 or visit www.nwindianaeyeandlaser.com.
Reopen
After more than a month's hiatus to reassess because of the labor shortage, The Wurst is again serving artisan meats in downtown Griffith.
The acclaimed whole animal butcher, which got a glowing profile by a Chicago Reader food critic, reopened 130 N. Broad St.
It's debuting new international sausages made with locally sourced meat, including South African Boerewors, Linguica, Fwereh, Jamaican Goat Curry, Welsh Lamb Sausage, Morcilla and Navajo Blood Sausage. It also continues to carry sausage favorites like Polish, Italian, Loukaniko, Kolbasz, Andouille, Chorizo, Cajun Boudin, Cevapi, Longanisa and Merguez.
There's more on the way and we didn't forget Oktoberfest is right around the corner.
Open
Amici's Grill and Pizzeria opened its second location at 1409 Lincolnway in Valparaiso.
The popular Italian restaurant on Ridge Road in Highland established its second location near the Valparaiso University campus. The restaurant serves pizza, pasta, salads, sandwiches and its famous garlic knots.
The Valparaiso location also have gyros plates, burgers, Greek fries, spicy baked feta, fried provolone and a Tzatziki plate.
For more information, visit www.amicigrill.com or call 219-286-6293.
Closed
Pepe's has closed in Calumet City.
The longstanding regional Tex-Mex chain long had an eatery at 943 River Oaks Drive near the River Oaks Center. The family-friendly restaurant, which has multiple locations across Northwest Indiana and Chicago, is known for its tacos, Chihuahua cheese-stuffed tacos, burritos, enchiladas and margaritas, as well as daily food and drink specials it runs throughout the weeks.
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.pete@nwi.com.
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Joseph S. Pete
Business Reporter
Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.
