City hopes to enshrine Jackson's first home

GARY, Ind. — The hardscrabble city of Gary, Ind., which rose to prosperity in its steelmaking heyday and saw its fortunes fall with the industry, sees an opportunity in the death of its most famous native: Michael Jackson.

The mayor is calling Jackson's modest boyhood home the new Graceland, and others hope to use Jackson's name to raise funds for a museum.

But Jackson and his family, like so many others, left the northwest Indiana city behind a long time ago.

Flags flew at half staff outside Gary's City Hall on Friday as Jackson's hits, including "Bad," blared inside the building intercom system. Outside Jackson's childhood home, fans danced to a boombox playing "Thriller" and performed his trademark moonwalk on the street.

Major Rudy Clay said he would like to transform the downtrodden community into a mecca for the pop singer's fans. He said even he'd like to arrange to have the pop icon, who died Thursday at the age of 50, buried in Gary, though he has not broached that possibility with Jackson's family.

"If they can do it for Elvis Presley in Graceland, we can do it for Michael Jackson in Gary," Clay, 73, told The Associated Press.

But tourism experts said they were skeptical that Gary could really draw Jackson fans.

For one, Jackson only lived in this community about 30 miles southeast of Chicago through the age of 11. Since then, the pop star rarely visited.

Roger Brooks, the CEO of Destination Development International, believes that Jackson's famed sprawling Neverland ranch in southern California has more potential to be a lasting tourist attraction.

"It was his place as an adult," he said. "It was his vision that built the place from the ground up." And, he said, it was the place associated with all the bizarre and troubling stories about Jackson.

"People would go to California to see that," Brooks said.

But Clay shook his head when asked if Neverland might be a better location for die-hard fans to connect to the singer's legacy.

"No. No. No," Clay said. "If you're going to build a museum to Michael Jackson you should build it where the true love for him is."

The Jacksons moved from Gary after the Jackson 5 recorded their first album in 1969.