Tired Town Hopes for Beauty Queen Solution
G A R Y, Ind., Feb. 28 -- When you think of Gary, Indiana, what comes to mind? You might envision gritty steel mills, billowing smokestacks or blighted neighborhoods — but think again.
Think beauty pageant.
The Miss USA beauty pageant is coming to Gary, as the 51 hopefuls have arrived and have been spending their time posing for pictures in their bikinis, practicing volleyball (for reasons not immediately clear) — and soaking up impressions of their new surroundings.
"I think I was caught up in seeing snow on the side of the road and the fact that there is no sun," admits Miss Florida, Julie Donaldson.
In fact, this city doesn't have a lot of things. Gary has no suitable convention space beyond the hall where the contest itself will be staged, so they've had to locate the Miss USA, post-pageant, black-tie coronation ball in a suburban shopping mall 6 miles outside of town.
Pageant May Turn Around Image
Pageant officials were surprised when Gary applied.
"The first thought was Gary, Indiana in February?" recalls Paula Shugart, the co-president of the Miss Universe Organization.
It helped the city's chances that Donald Trump owns a casino in Gary — and that he owns half the beauty pageant.
But even then, Gary's Mayor Scott King was skeptical: "Personally I'm just not a beauty pageant kind of guy."
The mayor appears to have been converted and now hopes the pageant will get people thinking more about Gary's promise than its problems.
"We get so defined by heavy industry, which has long been the genesis of the city," says King, "but there's so much more to Gary, Indiana."
With violent crime down and the population decline stopped, there are big plans to renew Gary with parks, housing and even a minor league baseball stadium on land almost no one visits now.
"Just give us a chance," says Ben Clement, the director of Economic Development. "We'll show the world what we can do with opportunity here in Gary."
The young women competing in the pageant have a lot at stake, but their event may well mean even more to Gary.
Popular Reads
ABC News Live