Fort Wayne seeks a balance between helping the poor and redeveloping downtown

That idea begs the question of what is possible given existing establishments along Superior Street which may not be considered retail friendly - such as the jail and facilities to help the city’s homeless.

At a public forum on the riverfront this summer, Kinder Baumgardner, the principal from SWA Group – the consulting firm leading the city’s riverfront study – presented the idea that Superior Street be turned into a commercial corridor

The consultant envisions Superior Street as neighborhood-like, lined with storefronts and restaurants to help encourage pedestrian activity as the area, which would connect to a promenade along the Saint Marys river from around Wells Street to Lawton Park.

The redevelopment area would encompass the site of the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission, which at the Superior location provides meals and shelter to homeless men. The question is whether or not investors would be interested in establishing retail businesses nearby.

Baumgardner also discussed during a July presentation at the Allen County Public Library how the city could develop around the Charles Meeks Justice Center, Allen County’s at the other end of Superior.

“Basically, all those things come back to the city and the citizens trying to decide what is the vision for this area,” he said after the event.

These are tough questions that may have to eventually be faced but not at this moment, at least in terms of riverfront development. SWA Group is still in the adolescent phase of the study. Another round of presentations is scheduled for late October. Pam Holocher, Fort Wayne’s deputy director of community developmentsaid the agency would put up more refined and detailed proposals based mainly around which ideas get the most public response.

“Everything we’ve done with the study has been conceptual,” said Holocher.

She’s not even sure if the Superior Street ideas will be discussed next month, and they may not even be addressed in the near future.

Mostly, Holocher said, the hot topics are the recreational opportunities on and along the river, at Lawton Park on the eastern zone of the study area or at Guldlin Park on the western edge.

If there is a stigma about investing in an enterprise neighboring the Rescue Mission, it would likely be an individual perception, said Bill Brown, president of the Downtown Improvement District.

“From the standpoint of development, that’s more of a decision for the developer to make,” said Brown.

The mission’s CEO and senior pastor, the Rev. Donovan Coley, does not believe it creates a stigma that would impede development. He said the community recognizes it as an asset, and then noted, without naming names, that many of the top investors downtown are the ones who support the facility the most.

A $125,000 project is underway, he added, to upgrade the building’s interior with an upgraded dining area, new state-of-the-art showers and a health clinic. Two more phases of work could follow in an effort to enhance services to those in need.

More than 1,300 people a year stay at the mission, Coley said. In addition to providing meals and shelter, the mission addresses trauma, mental illness and addiction issues and helps the needy with resources to get back on their feet.

Coley hopes that as downtown continues to develop, opportunities will open up that will provide jobs for many of those they serve.

“Many of them are former professionals. Many of them are college graduates. Many of them are skilled workers,” Coley said. “The Rescue Mission connects them to real resources to be able to address their issues.”

Coley also envisions a larger project on the horizon. He supports a collaborative idea to build a day center in downtown or near downtown to bring homeless individuals off the streets, out of public buildings and away from panhandling. The center would also act as a hub for local social services agencies to provide needed daily resources.

While he’s confident this is set to become a reality, following conversations among some city officials, churches and other groups, the details are not yet clear.

The details of the proposals – location, financing and staffing, for example – are still speculative, said Rebecca Karcher, grants administrator with Fort Wayne’s Office of Housing and Neighborhood Services. But she feels a day center would be good for the local homeless community.

“There are a lot of positives that could come along with something like that,” she said.

That kind of outreach to the poor will help Fort Wayne’s image, Coley also believes.