PORTAGE — A popular Indiana vacation spot hopes to draw more visitors who stay overnight and spend more money.
Members of the Dunes National Park Association want to promote the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore as an overnight destination by restoring the current lodge and adding underground parking that would not damage the landscape.
Association board member Jim Janesheski tells The Times in Munster that overnight visitors spend six times more than day visitors. He says increasing the number of people who spend the night could help the economic recovery in northwestern Indiana.
Association president David Megremis says restoring the former Good Fellow Lodge at the National Lakeshore would cost $8 million. The group would like to see it restored by 2016 for the National Lakeshore's 50th anniversary and the national park system's 100th anniversary.
