SOUTH BEND — From canals to high rises, a civic coliseum to a space-age church, South Bend has long been a canvas for architects and planners to paint their dreams of progress.
The latest is developer David Matthews' quest to build an East Bank high-rise atop a new Martin's Super Market store near downtown. The dream ran into roadblocks, but the Common Council recently gave final approval for the nine-story apartment tower in the East Bank area.
That got us thinking about some other high-flying plans that promised to transform the city.
We also were inspired by "Never Built New York," a 2016 book that details two centuries of design proposals for the Big Apple that never happened.
In that spirit, here are some high-profile development projects that have been proposed throughout South Bend's history — but were never built. The descriptions are drawn from the South Bend Tribune archives and the St. Joseph County Public Library's Local & Family History files.
The Erie & Michigan Canal
South Bend, Indiana, a port city? It could have happened.
Starting in the 1890s, there was intense public discussion about a proposal to build a deep water canal through Indiana connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. The federal government spent $50,000 on surveying a path, with one route slated to go right through South Bend.
The Erie & Michigan Canal would have cut through the city's west side, then south of downtown on its eastward route to Fort Wayne. A 1911 book was published containing data, maps, photos and descriptions of every community along the route of the planned canal.
"South Bend of tomorrow may be a seaport city," declared a headline in the Feb. 23, 1919 "Boosters' Edition" of the South Bend News-Times.