Mayor Graham Richard today announced a call for action to begin several downtown projects.

*Work with the Downtown Improvement District to create a public-private-civic downtown redevelopment organization to coordinate the implementation of the BlueprintPlus initiatives.  

*Mixed-use retail and residential development along with a parking garage at Washington Boulevard and Harrison Street.

*A new hotel north of the Grand Wayne Center along Harrison Street. 

*Appoint a task force to further evaluate a downtown mixed-use/baseball stadium complex. 

*Pursue a plan for a youth sports complex in the North River area.

 

*Promote North River area street grid and additional improvements to support private development on the site, the possible future youth sports complex, and the reuse of the historic freight house.

 

*Convert Wayne and Berry streets in the Central Business District and the two northbound blocks of Calhoun Street from one-way streets to two-way streets.

 

*Implement traffic calming along east-west and north-south arterial routes.

 

“Downtown Fort Wayne serves as a prime location for job creation, business investment, and housing and retail opportunities.” said Mayor Richard. “Investing in our downtown will make us more competitive for business growth. We are ready to take downtown development to the next level.”

 

The City'€™s $10 million CEDIT bond will assist in the financing of the projects.

 

Nationally-recognized architect and planning visionary Gianni Longo led a process to develop the project recommendations by building on the foundation established in the original Downtown Blueprint. Since April, Longo and a steering committee led by Bob Taylor, President of Do It Best and George Huber of the Downtown Improvement District have worked together to create a BlueprintPlus action plan for downtown revitalization. Public participation and community consensus guided the process.