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As doubts arise over city and county governments jointly occupying two large downtown buildings, Mayor Tom Henry this week reached out to business and community leaders seeking support for the proposal.
Henry e-mailed a two-page letter, dated Monday, outlining his support for Fort Wayne and Allen County to occupy both the City-County Building and Renaissance Square at 200 E. Berry St. He said the plan has many advantages and reasonable costs and asks letter recipients to work for the plan’s passage.
“Please join me in urging our county leadership to seize this moment and move forward with one of these options,” he wrote. “Please contact them, along with elected city officials, in whatever way is easiest for you, but please do it today.”
The plea was sent to board members of the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance and other groups.
The mayor and county commissioners have tentatively agreed on a plan to move the Fort Wayne Police Department and Allen County sheriff to the City-County Building and government functions in the City-County Building to Renaissance Square.
But members of the Allen County Council have voiced concern over the expense. The letter comes as the council plans to discuss and possibly vote on the matter today. The City Council has already approved a $14.5 million bond – plus several million dollars in ancillary borrowing costs – to buy Renaissance Square and renovate it. The county would be responsible for about $7.5 million for its own renovations if the proposal is approved.
Henry said Wednesday the letter was sent to reassure community leaders the city stands behind the plan to locate both governments in both buildings. He said there have been some concerns expressed by county officials, so he thought it was important to affirm the city’s stance on the issue.
County Commissioner Bill Brown this week said he was hopeful to get a tentative agreement from the County Council, but it might be necessary to ask Henry for more time. The mayor had asked for an answer by Thanksgiving.
Henry said he wasn’t trying to be unreasonable with a schedule and that a slight delay might be possible, but he said the city is trying to move forward with its purchase of the building. If the county isn’t willing to move with the city, the city would likely be moving to Renaissance alone, as was first proposed.
“We’ve got a lot of renovation work to do,” Henry said.
