Office of the Mayor

Welcome to Portage! Whether you are a business owner, resident or just stopping by for a visit, we are excited to have you here.

Come visit us by boat, bike, train or the interstate. Portage is proud to be home to the Indiana Dunes National Park, Lake Michigan and the Prairie Duneland, Marquette Greenway and Iron Horse trails as well as the South Shore Rail Commuter Line.

Portage is home to the Port of Indiana, Ameriplex at the Port business park and many other commercial industries which provide high quality jobs to our residents.

Portage is located just 40 miles southeast of Chicago and is easily accessible from the Indiana Toll Road or Interstate 80/94.

We are surrounded by scenic beauty with our 15 parks and over 10 miles of paved trails.

Downtown Founders Square Park hosts the Market on the Square, including music, movies and vendors each Friday during the summer months. The square is also the home to other festivals, including our Independence Day celebration and Mistletoe on Main, our Christmas celebration.

It also hosts Hannah’s Hope, an all-inclusive playground, and our Splash Pad where children can cool off on a hot summer day.

If you are looking for a rugged mountain biking experience, why not try our Outback Trail located at Imagination Glen. Imagination Glen is also the home to soccer fields and a BMX track, which attracts locals and visitors to compete throughout the summer.

If you are a boater we invite you to explore the Sammie L. Maletta Public Marina where not only are slips available to dock your boat during the season, but there is a launch area for occasional boaters or kayakers who are looking to make day trips to the area.

Portage is also home to many retail shops including national retailers from Bass Pro Shops to Kohl’s, Meijers, and Wal-Mart. Several local retail shops can also be found along U.S. 6, Central Avenue or in the interstate corridor.

From north to south there are several great restaurants sprinkled throughout the city for your dining pleasure.

Public safety and quality of life for our residents is a priority. Our Police and Fire Departments are second to none; and we strive to provide the most up to date technology, equipment and training available to all of our emergency responders.

We are proud of the hard work and dedication of our city workforce, maintaining a city the size of Portage is a big job and they do it well.

While we were sidelined by Covid in our first year as an administration we are aggressively moving forward with many, new exciting projects such as the continued expansion of the Marquette Greenway Trail, paving roadways and improving our infrastructure, constructing a safer entryway into the YMCA, constructing a new plaza in between the police and fire stations and completing upgrades to Founders Square, to name just a few.

Whatever brings you to Portage we hope you have a safe, enjoyable experience. I want to thank all of our residents for their support, trust and pride in our community.

And to our visitors, please come see us again, soon. I am sure you will agree, Portage is a great place to live, work and play.

Sincerely,

Sue I Lynch, Mayor