insulationking's video: ambassador apts

During the 1920s the population of Gary would double. In order to attract and keep good leadership, U.S. Steel needed quality housing available for its managers. Plans were soon conceived for a 68-unit apartment building near the heart of Gary and not far from the Gary Works steel plant. The building would be named the Ambassador Apartments, and architect William Stern was asked to provide the design. Construction began in 1927 and the building was ready to accept tenants the following year. At eight stories tall, the Italianate structure was one of the tallest residential buildings in Gary. The Ambassador was lavishly trimmed in sculptured, cream-colored terra cotta. The swanky domicile was a proud structure, constructed with nicer amenities than provided to the blue-collar steelworker of the day. The Ambassador Apartments served the gentry for decades, but it was not immune to the struggles of the steel industry and white flight of Gary. When racial integration swept Gary during the 1950s and 60s, the proud Ambassador was one of the last apartments buildings in town to integrate. Once Gary’s first black mayor was elected in 1967, the occupancy rates dropped. By 1970 the building hadn’t been maintained for almost a decade. During the early 1970s the apartments were converted into low-income housing. But the building would still not be maintained, and would further deteriorate. The building would continue to serve the low-income community of Gary until 1985, when structural and maintenance costs finally became too expensive to keep it operational. When the walls started to crumble, safety inspectors condemned it. After the final tenant moved out, the 58 year-old building was abandoned. After it closed in 1985, the Ambassador enjoyed a temporary revival when Gary’s underground moved in. Homeless would stake claims in rooms and prostitution arrests around the building were common. Thieves salvaged piping and vandals broke windows and left graffiti murals on walls.