Kresge Foundation awards grant to Historic Fort Wayne

Historic Fort Wayne this week was awarded a grant from the Kresge Foundation for $265,000 to help lay plans to revitalize the fort. The grant will be for two years, and has formed a partnership between the City of Detroit, the National Park Foundation (NFP), and the National Park Service (NPS) Midwest Region.

The project aims to help improve the recreational and cultural opportunities in Southwest Detroit.

“For nearly 175 years, Historic Fort Wayne has stood as a cultural and historical landmark, today attracting some 150,000 visitors a year, from neighborhood soccer leagues to Civil War re-enactments,” said George Jacobsen, senior program officer in Kresge’s Detroit Program. “As we think about its place in the fabric of Detroit now and in the future, Historic Fort Wayne holds great promise as an active and connected point for the Southwest Detroit and broader communities to recreate, as a space to celebrate contributions of multiple cultures, and as a potential location to support the development of small and creative-sector businesses.”

In 2015 the NPS deployed 10 urban fellows throughout the United States as a way to focus on advancing their urban agenda. Detroit’s NPS urban fellow is David Goldstein who grew up in metro Detroit. He is an anthropologist and Park Service ranger.

Goldstein will serve as the interim project director for the project before a consultant is hired in the spring of 2017. The consultant will work with officials to develop a strategic plan and timeline for implementation for Fort Wayne by December 31, 2017.

You can find more Fort Wayne coverage here.