Merrillville approves new baseball practice facility
By Karen Caffarini Post-Tribune correspondent September 30, 2012 5:56PM
Updated: November 2, 2012 6:08AM
MERRILLVILLE — The Town Council has paved the way for the opening of one new business and the expansion of two existing ones.
The council approved a variance to allow Jeff Myszak to open a baseball and softball practice facility at 8224 Wright St., a limited industrial area.
Myszak said his facility will be geared to youths ages 5 to 15, with the majority ages 5 to 10. He said he will encourage parents to stay with the youths and for their children to do charity work.
His hours of operation will be 3 to 7 or 8 p.m. on weekdays and 3 to 8 or 9 p.m. on weekends, depending on the amount of traffic he has.
The practice facility will be evaluated in one year to determine if there were any police reports or concerns raised about the business.
The council also approved a tax abatement for Prime Conveyor Inc., which plans to expand its current location at 8903 Louisiana. The abatement will be used for new manufacturing equipment.
Councilman Tom Goralczyk, D-4th, said the company will hire three additional workers with an average salary of $51,000 a year as a result of the expansion.
Prime Conveyor, which makes conveyor systems, moved its engineering, manufacturing, assembly and sales offices from Illinois to Merrillville in 1994.
Owner Imad Abookheir received special exception approval to move her CNA Academy Ltd. to 8300 Broadway, next door to her current location.
Abookheir needed to expand her school, which provides training for dialysis and ECG/EKG technicians, phlebotomy and physical therapy aides and more, to larger quarters.
