Wednesday, November 20

Planning for Age Friendly Neighborhoods.  (CM Credits: 3)

Program to be held at Hop River Brewing. 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.  Transportation provided. Cost $30

This hands-on learning experience partners planners with local residents and experts to learn, discuss, and create an ideal strategy to improve a real neighborhood in Fort Wayne using the AARP Age-Friendly and Livable Communities program. As most of the residents in our Midwest communities age, we must ask whether we are planning our communities to support this population, or are we stuck by the previous ways of planning that doesn’t meet reality for our target a population.? The average age in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana is now 39+, significantly increasing since 2000. This workshop will provide participants with hands-on experience working with residents and leaders in the Bloomingdale neighborhood. It will also include a field observation walk, putting the ideas of an age-friendly community into practice. Each participant will learn new tools, resources, and ideas to take home to their community. 

Shuttered to Showcase: A Tour of the Electric Works Campus. (CM Credits: 2)

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Transportation provided. Cost $30

Meet a Fort Wayne native; chances are that any Fort Wayne resident you talked to had a relative who once worked at the Fort Wayne General Electric Plant: a juggernaut of Fort Wayne manufacturing.  The plant shuttered operations in 2015, leaving over 1.2 million square feet of historic yet vacant space that once employed nearly 10,000 people.  Come see how grandiose thinking and industrious efforts led to the ongoing renaissance of the campus, switching out assembly lines for restaurants and maker spaces, all the while retaining the spirit of Fort Wayne’s manufacturing heyday.

Cows to Crowds: Land Use and Agri-Tourism in Rural Allen County. (CM Credits: 1.5)

Tour of Kuehnert Dairy Farms. 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Transportation provided. Cost $30

Preserving agricultural land is an important element in many communities’ comprehensive plans, especially in rural areas.  What happens when a generations-old dairy farm wants to expand into a regional destination?  Learn how a dairy farm can expand to meet their needs, address the procedural and zoning requirements of the local planning department, and maybe meet a cow or two along the way.

Urbanist Pub Crawl in downtown Fort Wayne. 

Meet in Hilton Lobby.  5:30 pm to 7:00 pm before opening reception. Cost is $20.

Fort Wayne is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Midwest, and the downtown is a true turn-around story. Today, the district has welcomed many new offices, stores, and apartments. With the recent excitement downtown, the City made a portion of the area a 'Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area' where visitors can walk in public with a drink. This tour is partially sponsored by CNU Midwest and is limited to the first 30 registered people. The event will encourage OKI attendees to grab a drink and walk several blocks around downtown in order to learn the story of Fort Wayne's renaissance. If you love good urbanism and the stories of cities, then you are encouraged to register for this event.

Thursday, November 21

Collaborative Change: How Public Private Partnerships are Creating a Dynamic Downtown. (CM Credits: 1.25)

11:00 am to 12:20 pm. Meet at entrance of Parkview Field along W. Jefferson St. This is a walking tour. 

Cost is $20.

If you have not been to Fort Wayne lately, you are going to be blown away by downtown’s transformation. Fort Wayne received several hundred million dollars of private investment over the past decade, with several hundred million more currently under construction and in the pipeline. None of these projects would have been possible without public-private partnerships, the community’s willingness to invest public money in quality of place initiatives, and a good, solid plan for guidance. This walking tour will highlight the catalytic projects that contributed to downtown’s resurgence and dive into the arrangements that made them possible. The tour will focus on the Harrison Street Corridor but will include a visit to Parkview Field (downtown baseball stadium). Total distance traveled will be about ¾ mile.   

Yes, we Kahn!!  Preserving a legendary architect's building for the 21st century  (CM Credits: 1.25)

11:00 am to 12:20 pm. Meet in Hilton Lobby for this walking tour. Cost is $20.

Louis Kahn was prolific in modern architecture, with notable works including the Salk institute Campus in La Jolla, California and the First Unitarian Church in Rochester, New York. Kahn designed the Arts United Center in 1973, allegedly his only project in the midwestern United States. As Arts United undertakes an ambitious capital campaign, attendees are invited to visit the performance venue to glean the campaign’s intended methods on preserving, modernizing, and expanding the venue into the 21st century, with little compromise to Kahn's original vision.

From Vision to Reality: A Walking Story of Creating a New Riverfront Park and Lessons Learned. (CM Credits: 1.25)

3:15 pm to 4:45 pm. Transportation provided. Cost is $30

This walking tour of Promenade Park will give an overview of the Riverfront Fort Wayne initiative, with a focus on how the inclusion of construction management considerations early in the planning and design process can improve decision making and project outcomes, along with lessons learned along the way. 

Haunted Fort Wayne: Murder, Mystery and Mayhem. 

8:00 pm to 9:30 pm. Meet in lobby of PNC Bank Tower after Reception. No cost but on-site donation accepted.

Cost is $30.

Modern Fort Wayne is over 200 years old. Its strategic location on the banks of the St. Mary's, St. Joe, and Maumee Rivers made it one of the most important cities for trade and culture for centuries. From its earliest days as Kekionga to the first French fort, and later Fort Wayne, the downtown and Historic West Central neighborhoods hold several deeply embedded stories of murder - mystery - and mayhem. This tour is approximately 90 minutes long and will stop at several historic sites around the downtown area. Visitors will learn about the spirits that stay behind, haunting the residents of Fort Wayne today. 

Friday, November 22

Empty to Engaging: Enhancing Public Spaces Through Alleyway Activation and Public Art in Downtown Fort Wayne. (CM Credits: 1.25)

10:30 am to noon. Meet at Washington St. doors at the Grand Wayne Center for this Walking Tour.

Cost is $20.

The Downtown Improvement District in partnership with City of Fort Wayne have been focused on activation of downtown alleyways and public spaces through implementation of recommendations of the 2019 Downtown Public Realm Action Plan and public art installations through the Art This Way program.  This walking tour will explore a four-block area of the downtown and discuss the Public Realm Action Plan and the Art This Way program, the mechanisms for development and implementation of projects, and some stories about the artists and the art.  Be sure to bring your camera! You’ll want to snap some selfies along the way!

Preserving the Past, Building the Future: Reinvigorating the Historic Landing District.  (CM Credits: 1.25)

10:30 am to noon. Meet in Hilton lobby for this Walking Tour. Cost is $20.

Fort Wayne received the moniker “Summit City” for being the highest point on the Wabash and Erie Canal.  The Landing served as a crucial part of Fort Wayne’s growth and importance in the region.  The site retained its historic charm after the demise of the canal era and became Fort Wayne’s first local historic district in 1965.  Come see how the Landing has been reinvigorated for 21st century standards and continuing to win over locals and visitors alike.