Electric Works is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The former General Electric property and the campus is now listed as “General Electric Fort Wayne Electric Works Historic District.”
The designation is through the National Parks Service and opens up the property for potential historic preservation tax credits.
The National Register of Historic Places is the country’s list of historic properties worthy of preservation.
The property on the near southwest side of downtown first housed the Fort Wayne Jenney Electric Company, which pioneered outdoor lighting in the 1880s.
In 1898, General Electric acquired the property and transitioned it to electric motor manufacturing.
At its peak, 40 percent of the city’s workforce was employed there, according to a press release from the city.
General Electric left the city in 2015 and since about 2017, the west side of the property has been developed as Electric Works, a public-private partnership creating a multi-use destination housing everything from lab space for Fort Wayne Community Schools to restaurants.
The project is the largest historic adaptive reuse project to receive the designation in the state of Indiana, according to a release.
