The Word Person
Veteran Times Staff Writer Lauri Harvey Keagle spent years covering Calumet City and remembers hearing the stories of Sin Strip in its heyday and seeing its demise into a haven for prostitutes, drug sales and the homeless. In 2001, six years after the city council condemned and demolished nearly 100 businesses and homes on State Street to make room for new businesses there, Keagle went back and found next to nothing had come in their place.
In early 2009, Keagle went back and was pleased to see the development that had taken place.
She set out to tell the story of the strip's life, death and rebirth through the eyes of the people who lived and worked there over the years.
The Visuals Person
Times Multimedia Director Christopher Smith has been covering Northwest Indiana and the South Suburbs for The Times and nwi.com for more than 5 years. In that time he has seen his job shift from providing still images for print to using multiple layers of storytelling techniques for print and web. In the Sin Strip presentation, he puts to use many of those tools to hopefully provide a layered, interactive experience.
"With the use of sound, video and stills, I believe we can better tell the story and give life to the past thus providing context for the present.
"By hearing the voices and seeing the faces of those who lived through the famous and infamous days what came to be known as "Sin Strip" we can gain an understanding of what was lost, what was promised and what may come."
The Web Person
Online producer Ryan Marx knew very little about Sin Strip when he joined the project. The hours he spent with the flatbed scanner and a stack of vintage photos filled him with nostalgia for a time and place he never had been.
In building this online experience, Marx wanted to capture the look and feel of the elegant 40s which so many recall so fondly.
The story of Sin Strip is a bittersweet one, and Marx wanted to do all he could to help tell it with all the respect and honesty it deserves.
