The General Electric Campus Coalition will host three public meetings to ask for citizen input regarding the future of the General Electric campus, located on Broadway just south of downtown Fort Wayne.
The coalition was initiated and convened by Fifth District Councilman Geoff Paddock. The purpose was to begin discussions with citizens and former GE employees about possible future uses of the now vacant factory, which sits on about 32 acres and consists of about a dozen buildings, totaling 2 million square feet.
The coalition met six times between May and November of 2015. On November 12, Paddock announced that Greater Fort Wayne Inc. had agreed to support the group’s efforts and sponsor facilitated discussions conducted by Dr. Andy Downs of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics. Dr. Downs has agreed to conduct three sessions to gauge input from the general public with respect to possible reuses of the campus. The outcomes would then be presented to Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and General Electric.
The three sessions will be held:
- Thursday, February 11, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, Citizens Square, Omni Room, 200 East Berry Street
- Saturday, February 13, 10 AM to Noon, The Summit, Dining Hall (Door H) 1025 West Rudisill Boulevard
- Thursday, February 18, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, Citizens Square, Omni Room, 200 East Berry Street.
“This is a significant development forward in the effort to find possible new uses for many of the old GE Buildings,” said Geoff Paddock. “I thank coalition members, and particularly subcommittee chair Rebecca Gregory, for working with me these past several months on this goal, and I thank Greater Fort Wayne Inc. for partnering with us in faciliting public discussions. I am hopeful the discussions will help us move forward in a positive direction on what might become of this iconic campus, in the heart of the Fifth District,” Paddock said.
