GARY, Ind. This once-thriving industrial city founded 101 years ago by U.S. Steel in the marshlands south of Lake Michigan is trying to rebuild its tattered reputation, one baseball fan at a time.

Nestled at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Pennsylvania Street in a rundown area of downtown Gary, just a home run south of the Toll Road, U.S. Steel Yard is an oasis of chalk-lined green grass, a picturesque and amenity-filled ballpark that is one of the few things bringing people into town at a time so many are leaving.

The Gary SouthShore RailCats, 2005 champions of the Northern League and leading the eight-team league again this season with a 25-10 record, are more than just a collection of baseball players whose major league dreams are kept alive on skimpy independent league salaries.

Combined with their 5,700-seat home, which opened with the start of the 2003 season (construction delays pushed back the opening by a year, forcing the RailCats to play their entire 90-game first season on the road), they are a reason for people in dozens of northwest Indiana communities to drive into Gary.

Beset by racial tensions and drug-related crime over the past 20 years, the proud but troubled city has made national headlines for averaging more murders per capita than any other major urban area in the country. Its population, which once approached 200,000 in the heyday of the steel industry, has been cut nearly in half.

Yet none of that stopped Valparaiso mother Karen Behrendt from choosing U.S. Steel Yard as the ideal place to host her son’s birthday party on a recent Friday night, or Valparaiso banker Dale Clapp from inviting his clients to join him for a night of business mixed with pleasure, ballpark style.

“We have no problems coming here. It’s a great place to bring the kids,” said Behrendt, whose son’s birthday party started in a picnic area outside left field before the kids headed for a playground behind the center-field wall. “They made it very accessible with lots of activities for the kids.”

Clapp’s vantage point was from one of the ballpark’s 18 suites, each of which can accommodate up to 20 people on sofas and bar stools inside and stadium seats outside. His bank was one of the first to reserve a suite when the park opened and thus has a prime location behind home plate.

“There’s no question Gary has an image issue, but this is a step in the right direction,” he said. “It shows that revitalization can work. It has done what it was intended to do — get people to come here.”

Clapp has attended a number of games at Victory Field and said U.S. Steel Yard compares favorably, with one notable exception.

“In Indianapolis, people stay around and enjoy Downtown after the game,” he said. “Success won’t be complete until that happens here.”

Gary’s ballpark is bordered by low-end residential areas, the highway and the steel mill.

Gary deputy mayor Geraldine Tousant was the city’s director for redevelopment under former Mayor Scott King, who was the driving force behind raising the bond money to get the stadium built. Tousant was involved in the land purchase and tenant relocation.

While acknowledging initial community skepticism about the $45 million project, she said attendance — which has increased each year and averages 2,000-3,000 on weeknights and 4,000-5,000 on weekends - speaks for itself. Tickets range from $7$10.

“The vision was that if we build it, people will come,” she said. “That has turned out to be true.”

Many minor league franchises that get their fan base from inside the city, but nearly 90 percent of the RailCats’ fans come from outside. Gary’s population is more than 80 percent black, a demographic that nationwide has not embraced baseball.

RailCats vice president and general manager Bill Terlecky attributes word of mouth about the ballpark, which sits just a long home run inside the Indiana Toll Road, and a crime-free five seasons — due at least in part to a visible and abundant security presence — for the steady growth in attendance.

“In other places you see a lot of interest early and then it kind of levels off. It’s a little different here,” he said. “I’m sure there was some apprehension from people wondering should they come to Gary. But we’re convinced if we can get you to come once, you’ll come back.”

To that end, community nights showcasing selected northwest Indiana towns are held throughout the summer. Also, in April, 46 area high schools played 23 games at U.S. Steel Yard, exposing it to a few hundred new visitors each game.

“One thing this ballpark has done,” Terlecky said, “is that for the first time in years, people who don’t live in Gary have a reason to come to Gary.”

The team’s director of marketing and promotions, Jahi Garrett, knows first-hand about growing up black in Gary with little interest in baseball. But after graduating from Northern Illinois University, where he played three seasons of football, he’s back in his hometown charged with helping the RailCats build their fan base. Inside the city limits, it’s a tough sell.

“I’ve got friends who’ve never been to a baseball game,” he said.

“I ran into a guy the other day who saw my RailCats shirt and said, ‘I don’t like baseball.’ It’s hard getting past that initial block.”

Garrett said the potential in northwest Indiana remains largely untapped and that’s where the team will continue to market. In time, perhaps, the locals will see the value he sees in having a ballpark in their neighborhood.

“This area was kind of downtrodden with a reputation as a crime area,” he said. “To me, this place gives Gary an idea of what it can come back to toward being prosperous again.”

Indiana’s pro ballparksNameCityOpenedSeatsTriple AVictory FieldIndianapolis199614,500Class AMemorial StadiumFort Wayne19936,516Stanley Coveleski Regional StadiumSouth Bend19875,000IndependentU.S. Steel YardGary20036,000Bosse FieldEvansville19155,117Still in existenceThese parks used to stage professional games:NameCityOpenedBush StadiumIndianapolis1931League StadiumHuntingburg1996McBride StadiumRichmond1936Loeb StadiumLafayette1940Highland ParkKokomo1985Ballpark tidbits• Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute is now home to the Div. I-AA Indiana State football team. It was built for the town’s baseball club, however, and had a center-field fence 546 feet from home plate.• Bosse Field is the third-oldest professional ballpark in the country, behind only Fenway Park (1912) and Wrigley Field (1914).