33 - The $6 Million Side Project Live at The Hibberd

Three years ago, a local couple purchased a seemingly nondescript printing plant in downtown South Bend for $240,000. In the coming months, together with eight additional partners, the couple would gather $6 million to undertake what is perhaps the city’s most ambitious and risk-laden side project in recent history.Their goals: contribute to the city’s resurgence and “don’t lose any f***ing money.”

On Monday, March 25th we hosted the first of these live events in the basement of The Hibberd, a historic printing plant finding new life as a mixed-use apartment and retail space in downtown South Bend. Our guests, Mark Neal, Kyle Copelin, and Deirdre Mylod, are longtime city contributors and three of the partners in The Hibberd restoration project. Our conversation explores their decision to risk time and money on a restoration project, The Hibberd’s contribution to South Bend’s resurgent narrative, and their vision of a vibrant, walkable downtown.