project, and that it would be funded by corporate donations. However, after the city was only able to raise under $2 million in corporate donations, the city issued municipal bonds to pay for the construction. Among the developments of which Kernan was particularly supportive was the Blackthorn development, a multimillion-dollar golf course and office park development. In 1992, he had touted the concept that became Blackthorn as a "pump for future development." In 1995, Kernan took interest in a proposal to build an arena in South Bend for a new minor league ice hockey team. However, this proposal ultimately failed to materialize. Some of the developments that were initially regarded as successes for South Bend when Kernan was mayor ultimately fell short in the long run. For instance, the College Football Hall of Fame never met its initial attendance projections. By the late-90s, it already had begun to be criticized as a failure, due to a lack of corporate sponsorship and poor turnout even during special events. The Hall of Fame would ultimately leave South Bend for the city of Atlanta in the 2010s. The Blackthorn, particularly its golf course component, fell short of expectations as well. However, Kernan, as late as 2015, defended the Blackthorn development, having regarded it, personally, to have been a success. Job creation and retention In November 1996, Nancy Armour of The Associated Press wrote that Kernan, Kernan worked on long-term job creation efforts as mayor. Kernan came to office shortly after a number of companies had left the city or closed, such as South Bend Toy in 1985 and Wheelbrater-Frye. Kernan took credit for stopping companies like Allied Products' South Bend Stamping from leaving the city. He also took credit for attracting other jobs to the city, arguing that as mayor he had been able to create or retain 4,000 manufacturing jobs. Another example that illustrates Kernan's work in this area was his successful work in 1993 to keep the Hoosier Lottery's 15-employee regional headquarters in South Bend. After they began looking for a new location, eying sites outside of South Bend, Kernan worked directly with them to find a new location for their offices within the city. Infrastructure The loss of $20 million annually in federal funds which the city had received prior to Reagan and Bush budget cuts to urban programs had taken its toll on South Bend's infrastructure. Nevertheless, a number