Foster Park Retrieval Shaft Work Begins
Visitors to Foster Park will notice the large work area north of the main entrance. Are you wondering what it is? How long will it be there?
City Utilities is constructing a deep rock tunnel to divert combined sewer overflow from our rivers to the wastewater treatment plant. Tunnel boring will begin near Memorial Park, will follow the Maumee and St. Marys Rivers and end at Foster Park. A retrieval shaft will be dug and blasted beginning January 2018. Trees and landscaping have already been removed to prepare for this work.
It will take several years to dig the tunnel and the tunnel boring machine to be pulled out of the retrieval shaft. After the tunnel comes connecting sewer work and open cut sewer installation near Hartman Road through the park. We might expect the project to be done in 2025. For the next eight years, this will be the “new normal” as this necessary work is done. City officials say restoration work in the park will be first-rate. Our neighborhoods will push hard for restoration to be done well.
City Utiliites invited residents from nearby neighborhoods to a meeting October 25. You can view the PowerPoint presentation here or visit FortWayneTunnel.org for information.
Neighbors and association will be invited to future meetings to be briefed on project progress. Historic Southwood Park Neighborhood Association feels strongly that construction traffic be routed the shortest route to and from the quarry – north on Broadway to Bluffton Road. It would be unnecessarily disruptive and damaging for trucks to use Old Mill Road going south.
Please watch your mail and FortWayneTunnel.org for updates on this long-term endeavor.
City Ultilities’ Tunnel Works Program is designed to keep combined sewer overflow from reaching our rivers during most rain events. This multi-year project is finishing its design stage and is about to begin construction of a deep rock tunnel in Foster Park.
There will be inconveniences. There will be traffic pattern changes. But we can prepare for these events through awareness and asking questions.
Frank Suarez, Director of Public Information for City Utilities and Public Works, has invited neighbors from Southwood Park and other neighborhoods in the Foster Park area to a meeting October 25, 6PM, at The Summit. You may have already received a mailing about it.
If you have questions, please attend.
Here are some links to the project:
https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/utilities/tunnel-works.html
https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/images/stories/Utilities/docs/3rport/TunnelFAQs_-_March_11.pdf
Here is the letter the Association received as an invitation:
We are inviting neighborhoods around the Foster Park area to an update meeting on the deep rock tunnel retrieval shaft that will be starting soon inside the park.
Residents in your neighborhood should be receiving a mailed postcard later this week – but I wanted to reach out to you to let you know about the meeting. The meeting is October 25 at 6:00 p.m. at The Learning Center at The Summit – 1025 West Rudisill Boulevard, Building 1025, Door G.
Again, this meeting will focus on the work that begins next month inside Foster Park. It is not about the near surface pipe work that will occur in neighborhood streets around the year 2020.
Thank you for your time and for your commitment to your neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Frank Suárez
Director of Public Information, Division of Public Works and City Utilities
City of Fort Wayne
Frank.suarez@cityoffortwayne.org
260-427-6051
Tell-Tale Signs
Association Centennial Picnic on July 22, 3PM to 7PM
Come join us as we celebrate our neighborhood’s centennial with good friends and neighbors!
The event will be kicked off with LIVE MUSIC performed by Swimming[into]View from 3-4 followed by Daniel Tucker and the Devil’s Herd from 4-7. There will be a bounce house and games for the kids including chalk, bubbles, water balloons, squirt guns, corn hole and more!
The picnic will be catered by Shigs N Pit BBQ. We will provide other snacks, water, and soda, but please feel free to bring a dish to share with neighbors and BYOB (responsibly). We hope you can join us in celebrating the 100th birthday of our great neighborhood! If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please contact Nadine Rager or Scott Marker. E-mail Southwood_park@yahoo.com with questions!
Dodging the Raindrops
The last Flamingo Friday on July 7 dodged the raindrops and went ahead as planned. Did you have a good time?
But next week’s Flamingo Friday will surely be wet, even if it doesn’t rain. It will be held at Pocohontas Pool July 14! Stay tuned for details!
The Summit is Seeking Use Variances for South Campus. Neighbors Invited to Attend Discussion on July 6.
The Summit invited leaders from surrounding neighborhoods to preview the Use Variances. Most of the Variances seem reasonable in their effort to keep The Summit an active, regulated asset to the community. You may have other concerns, we did not imagine, so I would invite you to review the attached Use Variance Proposal written by The Summit and the BZA filing. Share any concerns you may have at the public meeting this Thursday, July 6 at 6:30. You can also share any concerns with me at the following email address: Southwood_Park@yahoo.com.
An issue of concern for Historic Southwood Park is the fate of Hausser Hall. The building has been empty since Taylor University Fort Wayne closed. It has attracted some unwanted activity, but vandalism and trespassing has decreased since the windows were boarded and security patrols were added by The Summit.
- IMMEDIATE NEED FOR SPACE: The Summit needs to build a maintenance facility. There is a real need for space to store supplies, tools, and items like snowplows. Current plans call for a 7,500 sf building to be constructed. If the main floor of Hausser Hall was adapted for use as storage and maintenance, it could be as much as 10,000 sf. That’s extra space that could be used by tenants at The Summit.
- NOT MAKING MAINTENANCE AND STORAGE A “FIRST IMPRESSION”: Adapting Hausser Hall for maintenance and storage use places those jobs at the “back of campus” where they are seen less, but still readily accessible to The Summit campus. Why place these uses closer to the campus’s front door?
- LANDSCAPE SCREENING: If Hausser Hall is replaced, a new building would likely need expensive landscape berms and/or walls. These items use valuable real estate and resources to create.
- ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: Hausser Hall is built with expensive quality materials like granite and Indiana limestone. Reusing the building will keep hundreds of tons of material from being hauled to the landfill.
- HISTORIC PRESERVATION: Hausser Hall was designed by Alvin M. Strauss and Associates. A.M. Strauss was arguably Fort Wayne’s greatest 20th Century architect. He designed the Lincoln Tower, Memorial Coliseum, the Embassy Theatre, and the redesign of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, among other designs. Appreciation for Mid Century designs is beginning to grow. Hausser Hall is on ARCH’s local Most Endangered List for historic buildings. When the building passes 50 years old and can be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a commercial reuse of the building will be eligible for a 20% federal tax credit. Choosing demolition means choosing to throw away this credit that could be syndicated to investors or The Summit’s parent company.
The Summit and surrounding neighborhoods want to work together for our mutual benefit. Here are some ways reuse of Hausser Hall would be good for Historic Southwood Park neighbors:
- FIGHTING VANDALISM AND TRESPASSING: The quickest way to fight vandalism and trespassing is to bring activity back to southeast corner of campus by reusing Hausser Hall for maintenance and storage. Regular business traffic will keep trouble away. An empty lot would not deter crime, as it is out of sight of campus offices.
- PROPERTY LINE CROWDING: Hausser Hall is not close to the property line. There is a comfortable amount of space between it and neighbor’s homes. A potential new building in the future might need to be closer.
- NOISE POLLUTION: Large air handling and air conditioning equipment for a newer building would likely face away from the middle campus and toward neighbors’ homes. The amount of noise generated by these units prevents sleeping with windows open, or enjoyment of backyards. Hausser Hall might be able to have suite-by-suite units installed on the roof, mitigating potential noise.
- LIGHT POLLUTION: Neighbors were accustomed to the amount of light coming from Hausser Hall when it was in use. A newer building in the future is likely to have more windows, doors and security lighting at night.
In short, making Hausser Hall an active part of the Summit’s building inventory is a good thing.
Please share your thoughts. I invite you to review the attached Use Variance Proposal written by The Summit and share any concerns you may have at the public meeting this Thursday, July 6 at 6:30. Here are links to the documents: Use Variance Proposal – FAQs – 7.3.17, BZA Filing – Merged
You can also share any concerns with me at the following email address: Southwood_Park@yahoo.com.
Steve McCord, President, Historic Southwood Park Board of Directors
The Historic Southwood Park Board of Directors supports a 0.15% increase in the Local Income Tax rate to support rebuilding sidewalks, alleyways, and the riverfront. In neighborhood surveys, sidewalk repair is a foremost concern. On-street parking and the poor condition of alleys are other items of deep interest. Southwood Park neighbors identify our proximity to downtown as an asset. The rate increase addresses these points, so we encourage City Council to adopt the rate increase.
Why is this important? Well-maintained sidewalks and alleys improve property values. With constitutional property tax caps and a tight municipal budget, the Association Board of Directors feels this dedicated rate increase is the best way to ensure future City investments in neighborhoods.
At our May Association meeting, we discussed the tax proposal by members of City Council. We voted that we would support the increase in the Local Income Tax as long as council set aside at least 30% of the money for neighborhood infrastructure. At Wednesday’s Southwest Neighborhoods-Summit Alliance meeting, Councilman Dr. John Crawford outlined his plan to introduce a concurrent ordinance that will direct 1/3 of the tax increase to neighborhood infrastructure. This meets our Board’s goal and is expected to raise $40 million dollars over the next decade for sidewalks and alleys.
Several Southwood Park neighbors who have asked to participate in the City’s 50/50 sidewalk cost sharing have been deferred until future years. Demand far outstrips money in the City’s budget. And the City has never really had a budget for alley replacement. Many alleys are a century old and in poor condition. If a block of homeowners does manage to pass a successful petition for repairs, the City only contributes 25%, if it is available at all, leaving bills of thousands of dollars. If the ordinances pass, Councilman Crawford expects the City to pay for future sidewalk and alley work in full.
Historic Southwood Park is only a short bike ride from downtown. We benefit from a rising demand for housing near downtown, and portions of the rate increase will be spent on Phases II and III of Riverfront redevelopment.
The plan for earmarking 1/3 for sidewalks and alleys, and 2/3 for riverfront is a good path forward. A typical taxpayer can expect to pay $5.77 per month. The Local Income Tax does not affect those on limited incomes, as Social Security is tax exempt. If approved, the tax rate of 1.5% will still be below the state average of 1.59%. And money from the rate increase will NOT be spent on a downtown arena.
It is never easy to propose raising tax rates. The elected proponents of this plan deserve credit for taking on a tough subject.
City Council will conduct hearings on the subject at 5PM on June 27 and July 11 at Citizens Square. You can read some more on the subject from the perspective of Greater Fort Wayne, Inc. at swaggerupfortwayne.com.
Steve McCord
President, Historic Southwood Park Board of Directors
