Riverfront Fort Wayne Phases II and III underway
By Dave Gong | The Journal Gazette
A Philadelphia-based firm will head up design and implementation of Phases II and III of Fort Wayne's downtown riverfront development efforts, city officials announced Friday.
City Council will discuss the $2.5 million design contract later this month. If approved, it will be paid for out of the portion of the local income tax increase earmarked for riverfront development. The .13 percent increase was approved last year. Similarly, a contract with Riverworks Design Group for Phase I cost the city $2.2 million.
David Rubin Land Collective was selected to lead the team of architects, urban designers and engineers that will put together the upcoming development.
"Our community and region continue to support the Riverfront Fort Wayne efforts. Everyone involved with riverfront development appreciates the public's interest and excitement," Mayor Tom Henry said in a statement. "We're committed to building world-class amenities along the riverfront as we continue to work together to make Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana a point of destination to live, work and play. Being in position for the next phases speaks to the importance of why we're always moving to make unique and innovative progress for residents, visitors and businesses.”
David Rubin Land Collective is a landscape architecture and urban design firm that has completed or is working on riverfront designs in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania; Muncie and Indianapolis. The Land Collective will be joined by Agency Landscape + Planning; Beyer Blinder Belle Architecture and Planning; HR & A Real Estate and Economic Development Consultants; Bruce Mau Design; One Lucky Guitar; Christopher B. Burke Engineering; DLZ Engineering; CE Solutions Structural Engineering; MSKTD; Wilson Consulting Group Engineering and Dharam Cost Consulting.
If approved by council, work would begin immediately with an anticipated construction start date of late 2019 or early 2020.
Construction is currently underway on Phase I of the project, which includes a public park and promenade, as well as an elevated tree canopy trail that will connect to the rivergreenway. Phases II and III will likely call for more public spaces, but there are few details available regarding what exactly will be built.
