Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry announced some financial progress on riverfront development Thursday.
Henry says he’s hopeful that a $6 million request of Legacy money will quickly be approved by the Legacy Committee and City Council.
An additional $3 million application has been made to the Capital Improvement Board, and another $3 million has been committed by the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne. While the Community Foundation is still in the process of fundraising, it’s released the first portion of funds to go towards a comprehensive environmental plan to be completed this year.
While Henry hopes this $12 million will be invested over the next two years, he says there’s no way to know how long certain initiatives will take.
“As we clean up the river banks and do environmental studies, again we don’t know what we’re getting into. The rivers have never been studied this much," says Henry, "so it may take a while longer.”
The money will be spent as needed, and will be used for property appraisals and acquisition, engineering and design studies, and other initiatives.
Henry says the budgeting process could begin soon.