Did I call it, or what? A few years back I wrote an article here that went viral. Well, it got picked up by the Culver Citizen and the MCEDC newsletter anyway… The post, “If it Ain’t Burr Oak, Don’t Fix it” talked about the potential renaissance for Burr Oak, citing the access to electric, rail, State Highways and proximity to Culver. Since that article was written, the sub station renovation is nearly complete. I drive through there several times a day every weekday and I can tell you the train traffic has increased as well. And apparently Kevin Overmyer has decided to lead Burr Oak’s renaissance. Last year he began hosting events in the family barn with Burr Oak Barn Rental and this year he renovated the old General Store building and opened it as the Burr Oak Whistle Stop this past July. (Grand Opening article here.)
My article title came from my friend, Eric Freeman, who enjoyed a good play on words. In the case of the Whistle Stop, Kevin Overmyer decided there was something broken there and he took it upon himself to fix it. He remembered the history of the building from his childhood and was disheartened by the building’s deterioration. With the work he has done, it is nearly unrecognizable.
Is Burr Oak likely to see a true renaissance from these small beginnings? Hard to tell. Does Kevin have other plans for the Town? He’s not saying. But there is another commercial building there that could be put back into operation and the drive-by exposure is pretty good there. Maybe he’s started something. At the quarterly County Development for the Future meeting MCEDC hosts, I asked Kevin if he was planning to start giving a report on Burr Oak and it’s goals and progress. He just laughed, but there was a twinkle in his eye and he didn’t say no.
I’ll have to let Eric know that Burr Oak may be looking for a Mayor soon. Though he may have to run against Kevin, who’s always been a shrewd politician…
My friend Eric Freeman used to say that when he stepped down as Culver Chamber President, he would take on Burr Oak. The title of this post was to be his motto for Burr Oak’s renaissance. He thought “If it ain’t Burr Oak, don’t fix it!” would catch on. Unfortunately for Burr Oak, Eric changed jobs and moved to Indy before he could lead them to greatness.
I drive through Burr Oak daily without giving it much thought unless I’m stopped by a train. The recent hub-bub about new NIPSCO line routes and the expansion of the NIPSCO substation adjacent to Burr Oak have had me thinking about it more lately. This is partially due to the county-wide discussions promoted by MCEDC (Marshall County Economic Development Corporation) and how to make our communities more conducive to development. MCEDC is constantly working on a dialogue with Marshall County communities about how to make themselves more conducive to positive development and economic growth. There is a lengthy checklist of what industry looks for, but if you apply some of the big ones to Burr Oak, there is potential.
Norfolk Southern mobile museum Exhibit Car
Rail Access – Check! Burr Oak not only has rail access, but has an existing rail side track – something difficult to obtain and expensive to build these days. Plus getting a new one approved that crosses an existing state highway would be nearly impossible in today’s regulatory environment. Norfolk Southern runs as many as 35 trains a day through Burr Oak on this track.
Electric Service Capacity – Check! Just hit the above NIPSCO link to see the amount of power that will be passing through the new substation. (All routes lead through Burr Oak. There is a map showing the routes considered here.)
Available Workforce – Check! Marshall County as a whole draws much of its workforce from adjacent Starke and Pulaski counties. Burr Oak’s location towards the southwest corner of Marshall County and its close proximity to State Road 8 make access to the labor force convenient.
Good Schools – Check! Burr Oak sits between Culver and Plymouth. Plymouth is becoming known throughout the state as one of the better and most progressive public school systems in the State of Indiana. Culver is home to one of the preeminent internationally known private schools in the nation.
Picture of sailboats in front of Culver Academies Chapel borrowed from the Culver Chamber website
Quality of Life – Check! As MCEDC often promotes, Marshall County in general is a nice place to live. Burr Oak is close to Culver for recreation, restaurants, golf courses, etc. Rural living around Burr Oak is available and economical. Lake shore residences are available in nearby Culver and the Chain of Lakes area including the Lake Latonka development just minutes away.
Highway Access – Semi-Check… Burr Oak suffers from the same perceived negative as the rest of Marshall County – No Interstate access. But look at what they do have… They are on a State highway, within a few miles of two other state highways and within 10 miles of two four-lane state highways. There are 12 million people within 100 miles! (Source)
From here, the list becomes spotty. There isn’t a water system or sewer system in Burr Oak. While not every industry needs these infrastructures for production, many require them for fire safety. Which brings up emergency services. They would need to be provided by Culver which still remains a mostly volunteer service. There isn’t high speed internet service. The recently approved expansion of the Metronet into Plymouth and Marshall County is positive for those area, but expansion into southern Marshall County is at least several years away. Burr Oak proper doesn’t have much to offer in the way of commerce, but it is ripe for something to happen.
So, what makes a community thrive or die? As I’ve listed here, Burr Oak has a lot of positives. In some cases positives that outweigh those in other Marshall County communities. Personally I think it is the drive of community leaders. Burr Oak needs an Eric Freeman with a vision for the community! Every community talks about wanting a strong economy, but few are doing something about it. Communities often rise and fall as community leaders appear and disappear. Many times these leaders are shooting stars. They come on to the scene out of nowhere and burn brightly. To continue the analogy, some of them disappear on the horizon as they are recognized and drawn to bigger challenges, while others fizzle out when their passion or support disappears. It is unfortunate that communities often don’t recognize these forces until they’ve lost them. (Source)
Plymouth had PIDCO (Plymouth Industrial Development Corporation) in the late 50’s and through the 60’s and 70’s. They aggressively pursued community involvement encouraging small investments from people in the community in order to gain broad acceptance of goals. They bought land, partnered with the city to get infrastructure in place and then pursued and captured new businesses for Plymouth. Unfortunately they have become less of a player and are no longer as aggressively pursuing these opportunities. They are suffering from some mission drift and divided attention. Their name still contains “Industrial” but their website has been renamed “Plymouth Alive” and talks about downtown commercial business pursuits.
Culver also once had an Industrial Promotion Committee as part of the Culver Jaycees. This group was responsible for bringing McGill Manufacturing Co., Inc. from Valparaiso to Culver with a new 60,000 sf facility. (The building is currently occupied by Elkay.) But from all indications, the group fizzled quickly after that first success and the Culver Jaycees as a parent group has been dissolved as well. (Source)
MCEDC is attempting to fill the voids left by these groups, but sometimes it is difficult when there is not engaged community leadership. The County Development for the Future meetings that MCEDC has sponsored quarterly is an attempt to foster new stars in each Marshall County community. The biggest success story so far is the Town of Argos and their purchase of 75 acres for future development. (Annexation Article) They are well on their way to making this a Shovel Ready Site registered with the IEDC (Indiana Economic Development Corporation). Following their example, Bourbon is in the process of annexing additional property for development. Who will be the next community to step up to the challenge?
Strange Use of Funds…
September 18, 2023
Kevin Berger
Commentary, Marshall County
Burr Oak, Community, government
I don’t know about you, but I keep driving through Burr Oak and wondering when they are going to finish the project there. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s done! What a weird little project for INDOT to take on… They probably spent nearly as much on traffic control as they did for the actual work. (Along with all the signs on S.R. 17, there are orange warning signs on North Street and Center Street.)
Lurkers know, I have long predicted a renaissance in Burr Oak, starting with “If it ain’t Burr Oak, don’t fix it” back in 2014 and again in 2017, but I’m not sure what these little pieces of sidewalk really accomplish.
There are now ADA compliant sidewalk intersections with ramps, with ADA warning pads and ADA compliant widths choked down to meet existing non-compliant walks… where there are existing walks… In the case of the the walk shown to the right at the southwest corner of North Street and SR 17, neither sidewalk this improvement ties into goes anywhere beyond a couple of houses.
The improvement at the north west corner of Center Street and SR 17 is even more bizarre, as the walks in either direction are impassible and I assume, because there was no existing walk at the southwest corner of Center Street and SR 17, they didn’t do anything there. This makes the ADA warning pad shown to the right, point to… nothing… You’re back to walking on the highway.
I assume the new walks terminate on the west end where the Right of Way for SR 17 ends. I’m curious though, that if the State deemed it necessary to upgrade these sidewalks at these intersections, then why was this not a complete project, extending accessible sidewalks from the Burr Oak Whistle Stop on the south to Sunstar Hybrids (Osborn Seed) on the north? The same question applies to the east side of SR 17…
I don’t begrudge the citizens of Burr Oak the improvements. As I said, their time is coming. If the County sewer districts that are in the works materialize, that time maybe soon. I do question the use of these funds in this manner. As they are currently installed, if a follow up project materializes to continue the walks as contemplated above, these corners would need to be at least partially demolished and reworked. This is a mistake Culver has made in the past and one I’ve ranted about here…
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