Dunes residents have last Thanksgiving in homes

Dunes residents have last Thanksgiving in homes

Updated: Nov 26, 2009 9:24 PM EST

Beverly Shores - Dozens of people who live within the boundaries of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore celebrated their final Thanksgiving in their homes Thursday, months before the government is set to take possession of their properties.

The lakeshore will claim the houses overlooking Lake Michigan on Sept. 30, forcing many elderly residents to find new homes after 40 or more years in the same dwelling.

Eighty-five-year-old Doye Grimm, whose home in Portage is a half block into the park, said her home is her whole life. Her late husband built the house 63 years ago and they raised three children there.

"I'm a widow, and this home has all of my memories," she told The Times of Munster. "I just can't bear the thought of having to leave it at this point in my life. I'd like to stay until I die. It's very stressful. I don't know where I'm going to go. I can't afford to go anywhere."

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Costa Dillon said all the property owners sold their homes to the national park years ago and will have to move regardless of age. Thirty-eight people are losing their rights to 26 properties, he said.

http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=11579029

I wonder what plans the park service has for their homes... that would be harmed by letting the current residents stay until they move or die?

The Park Service is clueless by the way. They have done a horrible job "reclaiming" the wetlands that they already control. The last few years water has encroached onto privately owned land throughout Beverly Shores. The mosquitoes rule the summer months now. Their engineers suck.
They could easily wait for these people to die out. They won't leave, if they were going to leave they'd have gone already. The Park Service and the Indiana DNR are a joke and they do a bad job overseeing what they are already responsible for. It's really too bad because it is a beautiful area. Just check out Mt. Baldy. They let it be destroyed by tourists over the years and it may never recover. A bunch of idiots.