FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – Fort Wayne leaders unveiled the website, logo, and public engagement efforts for Downtown Fort Wayne’s ten-year strategic plan.
MAKE IT DOWNTOWN: A Plan for Fort Wayne’s Next Decade is the plan’s name with a corresponding wordmark, vibrant colors, and icons indicating forward movement.
Residents can find the website, learn more about the planning process, and see upcoming activities and the Make It Downtown website.
Also on the website, anyone who lives, works, or visits downtown is encouraged to take a survey, drop a pin on a map to indicate needed improvements, and contribute to the “Make it Vibe” downtown playlist.
The City released the following:
“Our downtown has been completely transformed over the last 20-plus years, and we need to keep moving forward,” said Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker. “MAKE IT DOWNTOWN will combine input from nationally recognized planning and economic development professionals, local stakeholders, and downtown residents and visitors to create the roadmap for our next ten years of growth and opportunity.”
The online survey is available now and includes an opportunity to enter into a drawing for a $25 gift card to local downtown businesses. In addition to the survey, the public is invited to take part in engagement activities planned for Friday, August 28 at the Fort Wayne TinCaps game and Saturday, August 29 at Arts United Taste of the Arts Festival.
An advisory group made up of representatives from the City of Fort Wayne, Allen County, Greater Fort Wayne Inc., Downtown Fort Wayne, Visit Fort Wayne, Arts United, Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, Foellinger Foundation, Electric Works, Fort Wayne Tin Caps, the Mayor’s Young Adult Advisory Council and downtown property owners are advising the downtown planning work. Interface Studio, LLC, a planning and urban design firm based in Philadelphia, was hired in April to lead the efforts.
Fort Wayne’s current downtown plan, Blueprint for the Future, was adopted in 2003. Subsequent updates to that plan and additional reports and studies have led to more than $1 billion in investment in the heart of Fort Wayne over the last 23 years.
Catalytic projects over that time include Parkview Field, the Harrison Square mixed-use development, Ash Skyline Tower, Superior Lofts, the Urban Trail, Cityscape Flats, The Landing, The Bradley, Promenade Park, Electric Works, The Pearl and Pearl Arts Center, Riverfront at Promenade Park, the Arts United Center expansion and more.
Development of the new downtown plan has broad support from community partners, with funding provided by the Allen County Board of Commissioners, Richard D. Waterfield Charitable Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, Downtown Fort Wayne, Greater Fort Wayne Inc., the City of Fort Wayne’s Community Development Division, Fort Wayne New Markets Revitalization Fund, and SEED Fort Wayne.
The plan is estimated to be completed by April 2027 and will be presented to the Fort Wayne Plan Commission and City Council for adoption.
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