It would appear that Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry is uncertain about the future of the Harrison Square Condos. In an interview with IndianasNewsCenter, Mayor Henry indicated that he and his wife may decide against purchasing a condo after all…
…Henry confirmed the developers told him his name was quickly coming up on the list to decide whether to commit.
Reporter: ” Will you buy one?”
Mayor Tom Henry\(D) Fort Wayne: ” I don’t know yet. Again, right now, we still are very excited about the possibilities. But again, it all depends on what the developer ultimately comes up with. If they stay with a full condominium design, then we’re very interested. If they go mixed-use condo and apartment complex, then we’re going to have to take another look. Or if they go completely apartment, we’ll have to take another look. Or if they put something else entirely different, I don’t know, I’m not a developer, but we are asking them to come back with a number of different options.”
The fact that Henry wants to help “kick start,” as he says, the condos as mayor, could end up costing the development its most high-profile potential investor, as Tom Henry, private citizen.
Mayor Henry’s unwillingness to commit leads to speculation about the Harrison condos’ future. Such speculation gives pause to potential investors, not only about the condos themselves, but other aspects of the project yet unknown. What does Fort Wayne’s mayor know that we don’t?
Despite having the transportation artery cut just south of Science Central, museum President Martin Fisher said Wednesday that he isn’t too concerned about the project as long as people have access to the science museum.
“As long as they can still get into our parking lot and out of our parking lot, I don’t think it would impact us,” he said.
Fisher said he had not been aware of the project because he has been at Science Central only for a few months. Because it is a destination, he said, the museum shouldn’t lose much attendance from normal traffic not driving past.”
Although Harrison Square promises new development, the results may not be visable for 2-3 years. Like the recently announced Lincoln Museum closure in June, 2008, losing Science Central would leave a cultural hole. Downtown Fort Wayne can ill-afford to lose another destination attraction.
In my opinion, Science Central struggles from orphaned-child syndrome. It stands alone as the sole attraction, a destination island, on the north side of the St. Mary’s River. Will decreased access prove to be the death knell for this important Fort Wayne landmark?
My children love this science museum. Although we only visit 1-2 times per year, it remains a family experience we all enjoy. Traveling through Chicago to Wisconsin Dells several years ago, my wife and I treated the kids with a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry. They were bored. This great Chicago museum offered little that our children had not already experienced in their own hometown. Best of all, our Science Central membership included free general admission to more than 250 participating museums, including MS & I (although we still paid $12.00 to park!).
If you haven’t been to Science Central lately, take the time to show your support. Grab your friends, bring the kids, and reexperience this Fort Wayne landmark. If you’re planning a trip to Chicago, purchase a Science Central membership first. Keep your hard earned dollars in Fort Wayne and get free general admission to the Museum of Science & Industry and Chicago’s Field Museum. Considering MS&I’s admission rates ($13 per adult & $9 per child aged 3-11) and the Field Museum’s rates ($14 per adult & $9 per child aged 4-11), larger families can save a ton! Although, I can’t promise that your own children won’t be bored in those Chicago museums.
“Oprah’s Big Give” is coming to Allen County. The television show selected ABC affiliate Indiana’s NewsCenter and the local non-profit Aboite New Trails for a donation of $10,000. The mission from “Oprah’s Big Give” to Aboite New Trails and Indiana’s NewsCenter was to find a way to grow the money into something larger.
As a result, The City of Fort Wayne, the New Haven and Adams Township Park and Recreation Department, Aboite New Trails, the Greenway Consortium and Northwest Allen Trails are coming together to give big and give back as part of Oprah’s Big Give Fort Wayne Trails initiative. Each organization will host a walk, bike ride or run fund-raising event on Saturday, April 12. All will join together for a free event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Headwaters Park in Downtown Fort Wayne. Organizers expect this to be the most number of people on trails in Fort Wayne and New Haven ever in a single day.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Aboite New Trails:
Registration and pre-walk/bike activities including a children’s bike helmet give-away will be 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Indian Trails Park for Bike/Walk About Aboite. At 11 a.m. the walk and bike rides will start. Jason Minnick of Catalyst Fitness will lead a guided 4.5-mile walk. Bicyclists will ride for 8 miles separate from the walking path with a police escort on the sections of the route that are on roadway.
Greenway Consortium:
A Greenway Fun Run and Walk event will be at 12:30 p.m. starting from Headwaters Park. The walk will be a 2-mile loop that will finish at Headwaters. The run will be 3 miles and also end at Headwaters in time for the 2 p.m. party.
New Haven/Adams Township Park and Recreation:
Registration will start at 10:30 a.m. at Moser Park and include appearances that morning from the New Haven Alumni Band and the Woodlan High School cheerleaders. Cyclists and walkers can ride or walk the 8 miles to Headwaters Park, demonstrating the connected trails between New Haven and Fort Wayne. The bike ride will start at noon; walkers can leave at any time. There will be a second starting point, the North River Road boat launch, which is closer to Fort Wayne for those who want to walk or ride a shorter distance.
Northwest Allen Trails:
Participants in the Spring Walk-a-Mile at the Salomon Farm Park Trail can start anytime between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Parkview YMCA. The trail’s loop is approximately 2 miles.
West Central residents no longer need to worry about a Centennial Wireless tower blocking the view of the General Electric Co. sign.
The locally based wireless carrier shifted its proposed antenna off Broadway to another downtown location in response to the neighborhood’s outcry, said Phil Laux, senior vice president of marketing for Centennial Wireless.
[...]
The site would replace Centennial’s proposed antenna south of Martin and Hendricks streets, near Broadway. The company that wanted to build the 150-foot tower, GenCom Inc., withdrew that controversial proposal at the Fort Wayne Board of Zoning Appeals meeting last month. A company representative told the board GenCom wanted more time to work with opponents from the West Central Neighborhood Association.
[...]
The proposed Fairfield Avenue tower will not provide as much downtown wireless capacity as the first site, but Laux said it should still meet future needs as cell phone use there grows. Harrison Square, the $125 million downtown redevelopment project, is expected to generate more cell phone traffic in that area.
[...]
But Carolyn DeVoe, former president of the Southwest Area Partnership, said the project could still be improved. Antennas could be mounted on downtown high-rises or on two proposed 100-foot towers that would serve as architectural features for Headwaters Park. That would avoid the need for wireless carriers to dot downtown with towers, she said.
DeVoe said she would prefer to see the city find a comprehensive solution for cell tower placement instead of letting companies install them one by one.”
Here’s one comprehensive solution: Integrate cell tower technology into a Headwaters Park downtown aerial tram system. As new cell towers are needed near Glenbrook, IPFW, Dupont, Jefferson Pointe, and Southtown, extend the tram system to these areas.
The News-Sentinel is reporting today that Mayor Tom Henry has received three proposals to develop the OmniSource property…
Henry said one plan centers on a mixed-use building with retail on the first floor and condominiums above; another involves “sports and recreation,” and though Henry said he did not know specifics of a third plan, he said it represented a multimillion-dollar proposal he first learned of Tuesday morning. At least two of the three proposals come from local developers.”
The Journal Gazette reported today that the Board of Public Works approved the $8.1 million Martin Luther King Bridge replacement deal
[...] The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge was scheduled to be replaced by the state, and the city agreed to partner with the state transportation department to make it more than a simple concrete span.
“This is a rather unique project,” City Engineer David Ross said. “It is a gateway for entry to our downtown area. It does have a lot of significance.”
The city completed three public workshops to allow residents to help select the style for the new bridge. An arched, truss-style bridge with pedestrian/bike trails on both sides was chosen. Final design details will be determined as the project progresses.
The approved contract sets a timeline and budget for the project. The state will pay $6.2 million, while the city is responsible for $1.9 million. Ross said the city hopes construction can begin in 2010 and the work would be completed in 2011, the last year of Henry’s current term.
Other than serving as an aesthetic entrance to Fort Wayne, the project will reduce maintenance costs for the state and coincide with the state’s plan to improve Clinton north of the bridge in the future. The bridge was built in 1967 and rehabilitated in 1985. Its sufficiency rating is 64.6 out of 100. The city said this is a concern but that there is no immediate threat to public safety.
If not included in the design already, it would seem prudent to construct the support structures to allow the free flow of natural debris. The waterway beneath the existing bridge appears clogged more often than not, making it unnavigable for boaters and river enthusiasts. Since the report specifically refers to the design as an “arched, truss-style bridge” this seems to indicate that few (if any) river-anchored columns will be present. Problem solved.
Of course this begs the question, “Where will the debris flow if it travels unencumbered by the new bridge?”
If you’re looking for a beautiful pictorial history of the Summit City, you can’t go wrong with Historic Photos of Fort Wayne. Text and captions are provided by Scott M. Bushnell, a former newspaper reporter and editor, and copy editor of the narrative History of Fort Wayne and Allen County, 1700-2005. Captivating photos are provided from 1860-1979.
Mr. Bushnell’s collection features our city’s bustling downtown and its transition from a small county seat of 10,388 residents during the Civil War. (p. 1) From the 1910’s through the 1940’s, Fort Wayne experienced a period of economic growth and expansion. According to Bushnell, records indicate that 36.2 million riders utilized the downtown trolleys and streetcars in 1944 (p. 154).
Mr. Bushnell confirms the belief that it was the exodus of retail establishments which ultimately led to downtown’s decline: ”flight of residents to suburbia fueled the growth of shopping centers far removed from the traditional downtown retail district.” (p. 179)
It seems fitting to mention Headwaters Park in light of the recent flooding. Plagued by repeated deluges over the years, the area was transformed to provide year round entertainment while respecting the St. Mary’s River’s natural tendency to flood.
In 2002, Fort Wayne’s own Geoff Paddock, Executive Director of Headwaters Park, published Headwaters Park: Fort Wayne’s Lasting Legacy. The editorial review of Mr. Paddock’s publication describes the area’s rich history
From the flood of 1790 to the circus grounds of the 1850s, to the first night baseball game of 1883 to a depression area shantytown of the 1930s, the rich legacy of the Headwaters is a vital part of the fabric of Fort Wayne’s history. Today, through the efforts of the Fort Wayne community and the Headwaters Flood Control and Park project, the area has been transformed into one of the most forward thinking city park projects in the country, providing a home for many area festivals and a beautiful addition to the downtown landscape of Fort Wayne.”
While it is regrettable that Fort Wayne residents still suffer from the occasional flood, we are fortunate that Headwaters Park exists to alleviate more damage.
"Fort Wayne has a proud heritage and long ago was the destination of choice for early settlers. The city has lost its Sense of Self. We cannot look to Toledo or Dayton, Indianapolis or Providence for who or what we are supposed to be. We must embrace that which makes us unique. Only we can reclaim the title long lost, and once again become the standard-bearer worthy of emulation."
"I utterly reject the belief that the people of Fort Wayne are resistant to change. They simply have not yet seen a vision they can stand behind. Show them the right plan at the right time and the right price and they will proudly support it."
cut just south of Science Central, museum President Martin Fisher said Wednesday that he isn’t too concerned about the project as long as people have access to the science museum.
Text and captions are provided by 
