DEAR WAYNEDALE READERS
Happy New Year!
We are looking forward to a great 2006. We are working hard to be a safe city, provide the best services to you and retain and gain quality jobs. The future is bright for Fort Wayne.
One of those bright spots is the new Southtown Centre at the former Southtown Mall site. We recently held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of the new Wal-Mart Supercenter store. Wal-Mart purchased 22-acres of property next to the Menards site to build a 220,000 square foot Supercenter. The store is expected to open in late summer/early fall of 2006.
Wal-Mart will serve as an anchor facility at Southtown Centre. Hundreds of jobs will be created as we bring hope and opportunity back to an underserved area of our community.
Several additional projects are moving ahead at Southtown Centre. The new US 27/Southtown intersection has been built. Construction is underway for the Menards store. The new Menards store is scheduled to open in mid-March 2006.
Construction is underway for the new Firestone store. The new store is expected to open in February 2006. Once the new facility opens, the existing Firestone store will be torn down. STAR Financial Bank has agreed to build a new branch location at Southtown Centre. A first of its kind regional police and fire training academy is expected to open in late 2007.
We are also working to be a wired and inspired city. Last year, iTeams were created to promote innovation and investment. Last month, Verizon presented Fort Wayne’s NetLiteracy program with a $20,000 grant to place computers in low-income housing and senior facilities. The NetLiteracy iTeam is aimed at empowering young people to increase computer availability and Internet literacy for underserved youth, families and seniors. This project presents limitless possibilities.
Several other iTeams have been launched. The Hearing Impaired iTeam is working to bring greater independence to the deaf and hearing impaired community by developing a video relay service on a broadband network. The Virtual Medicine Eye iTeam is working to provide real-time diagnosis for diabetic patients with possible retinal problems.
Graham Richard
Mayor
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