The International Harvester museum, forced to move after Allen County government announced plans to build a new correctional facility on the property, will be moving to New Haven, New Haven Mayor Steve McMichael announced Wednesday.
McMichael said the new museum will be on the Fields of Grace campus, a 200-acre development along Minnich Road just off Interstate 469 that will feature the Harvester Homecoming Museum, youth sports facilities, convention spaces, dining options, retail outlets, medical services and a variety of housing and entertainment choices.
McMichael said taxpayers will not pay for this $12 million facility.
“We’re reaching out to private donors to donate to the Harvester Homecoming organization to create an endowment to pay for the day to day operation and a lease payment on this facility,” McMichael said. “The City of New Haven will be partnering, will be helping, but taxpayers will not be paying for this museum.”
Harvester Homecoming Director Shawn Norris said while she’s disappointed to be leaving a historic building like the current museum, this new facility has her excited for the future.
“We are excited about this new opportunity to build something that is designed more for our needs,” Norris said.
McMichael announced the plan at a press conference flanked by Scout trucks Harvester was famous for producing at the old plant for years in Fort Wayne. Speaking in front of a large cornfield where the fieldhouse that will feature the youth sports facilities will be built, McMichael called the announcement a “Field of Dreams moment”
McMichael said he hopes the new fieldhouse will open in 2026 with construction on the new Harvester Homecoming museum starting “before that.”
