Fort Wayne’s Electric Works is about to take a major step forward. The Union Street Markets, phase one of the project, is set to be finished in a matter of weeks.
Hammers, tape and power tools: the sounds of construction. In downtown Fort Wayne, they’re the sounds of the Union Street Markets nearing completion at Electric Works.
Electric Works and Weigand Construction officials say the first broad public space at the Electric Works campus, the Union Street Markets, will be opening in a matter of weeks, but Ted Spitzer, the director of planning and development for the Union Street Market, says he’s not ready to put a date on when the Markets will open.
“Because we have 18 individual, small merchants who have to get themselves fully set up with all of their equipment.”
Spitzer says he does not want to put a specific timetable on the kind of coordination that setup will require. However, he fully expects the Union Street Markets to be open in a matter of weeks while the rest of the work on the Electric Works campus continues.
“Our expectation is that the heavy duty construction will be done in about two weeks. So, then we can stop wearing hardhats and start having people come in, for the merchants to come in and start setting up their estates.”
The Union Street Markets will feature 18 to 25 small businesses, including numerous food and drink vendors.
Electric Works Senior Experience Director Katy Silliman says the goal is for the markets and Electric Works as a whole to provide “18- hours of activity a day."
Work on the entire Electric Works project is not expected to be finished for another ten years.