Headwaters Junction, Inc. has announced the start of development efforts on 1010 Cass Street, complimenting Promenade Park in downtown Fort Wayne.
Headwaters Junction is a non-profit dedicated to “establishing a regional railroad attraction” along Fort Wayne’s riverfront. The project has been in the works since SWA Group recommended it during initial riverfront discussions in 2015, according to a release issued Wednesday..
Phase I of the project is underway, which will consist of a coffee and ice cream shop inside the site of the city’s railroad station.
A spokesman for Headwaters Junction calls it the “tip of the spear” based on its location, and says it will serve as a teaser for the remaining phases. Future phases will feature a “rail-yard park, incerceptive facility and operating tourist railroad.”
Grants from the Community Foundation and the Journal Gazette Foundation helped make the first phase possible, and it was finally given the green light by Fort Wayne’s redevelopment commission last July.
Site construction will begin later this year, with completion scheduled for 2022.
