Waterfield backs riverfront plan
January 14, 2016 1:03 AM
Waterfield backs riverfront plan
Local nonprofit gives $100,000 to city project
Dave Gong | The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne’s Riverfront Development efforts got another boost Wednesday with a donation from the Waterfield Foundation, a nonprofit organization in the city.
The organization donated $100,000 to the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne to assist in ongoing riverfront development efforts. Paired with a 50 percent match from Lilly Endowment Inc., the total contribution comes to $150,000.
“The Community Foundation is extremely grateful to the Waterfield Foundation for this very generous gift,” said David Bennett, executive director of the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.
“Riverfront development is an exciting project that will help us continue the success we have enjoyed in Allen County and all of northeast Indiana.”
According to its website, the Waterfield Foundation primarily makes charitable donations in Fort Wayne and the surrounding community.
“The Waterfield family has called Fort Wayne home for over 100 years and has always felt a thriving downtown is critical to the vibrancy and image of our city,” said Richard D. Waterfield, chairman of the Waterfield Foundation. “The riverfront development will be a major factor in moving that vision forward. We are also most impressed with the people leading this effort and are very pleased to be able to assist.”
The Community Foundation’s goal is to raise $3 million – including the Lilly Endowment match – to put toward riverfront development.
In December, the fund was just $300,000 shy of its goal.
