Fort Wayne begins work on next Riverfront project
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(photo courtesy of the city of Fort Wayne)
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(rendering courtesy of the city of Fort Wayne)
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(rendering courtesy of the city of Fort Wayne)
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Artist rendering of Phase two of Fort Wayne’s riverfront redevelopment. (image provided by city)
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Artist rendering of Phase two of Fort Wayne’s riverfront redevelopment. (image provided by city)
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Artist rendering of Phase two of Fort Wayne’s riverfront redevelopment. (image provided by city)
Officials in Fort Wayne broke ground Wednesday on the next stage of redevelopment on the city’s riverfront. Known as Riverfront Open Space Phase IIb, the $40 million project is designed to create expanded public space along the St. Mary’s River.
The public space will be extended from Promenade Park, which was the first phase of the Riverfront Fort Wayne initiative completed in 2019, to Ewing Street on the west and Clinton Street on the east.
The space will include an extension of the elevated Tree Canopy Trail, as well as amenities such as boat docks for private watercraft, a universally-accessible boulder mound, hammock grove, walking trails, and an amphitheater.
The city said the goal of the project is to help the city grow as a regional destination for visitors, tourists, developers and businesses.“
Riverfront development is a key economic driver and unique quality of life amenity that is positioning Fort Wayne as a regional and national leader in providing an excellent and successful live, work and play model,” Mayor Tom Henry said in a news relesae. “As a point of destination community, we’re moving together in the right direction as our best days are ahead of us. This next phase of work along our riverfront will have a lasting and meaningful impact.”
The project is slated to take about two years to complete and is being funded by the combination of a lease rental revenue bond using local income tax dollars and funding from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI.
The groundbreaking comes just two months after the city cut the ribbon on Phase IIa, a $2.6 million project that filled a missing piece of park space and provides a connection between Promenade Park and Headwaters Park.
The city also marked the opening of The Riverfront at Promenade Park, a nearly $90 million mixed-use development that features more than 200 apartments, seven townhomes, a 900-space parking garage, and 15,000 square feet of retail space.
Other private investments being made around the riverfront area include the nearly $100 million mixed-use project called The Lofts at Headwaters Park, a new brewery from Illinois-based More Brewing Co., and the redevelopment of the former Schaab Metal Products building into a multi-tenant commercial development called Schaab Riverfront Plaza.