Today community leaders celebrated the grand new entrance to Franke Park with a ribbon cutting.
News release from Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation:
New Goshen Road Entrance Opens to Franke Park
Includes new bridge over Spy Run Creek, multi-use trailsFort Wayne, Indiana (November 8, 2024) – Today Mayor Sharon Tucker, Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Director Steve McDaniel, community leaders, funding partners along with Indiana Department of Natural Resources (INDR) and Great Lakes Commission representatives celebrated the grand new entrance to Franke Park with a ribbon cutting.
The ceremony highlights the major outdoor improvements for phase one of the Franke Park Renaissance Plan and features:
- A new winding, tree-lined entrance from Goshen Road.
- A new bridge over Spy Run Creek.
- Paved, multi-use trail, thoughtful vehicular circulation and connection to residential neighborhoods in the southwest corner of the park.
- Improvements to the mountain bike and hiking trails.
“The new entrance into Franke Park is a welcoming and needed addition that will help make experiences more memorable and rewarding for residents and visitors,” said Mayor Tucker. “We’re fortunate to have a unique setting like Franke Park for the public to enjoy. There’s no doubt that Parks and Recreation is leading the way to provide an enhanced quality of life for all.”
“We appreciate the recognition of the value of this project from the mayor, city council, the Fort Wayne Park Foundation and other funders,” said Parks and Recreation Director Steve McDaniel. “By connecting area residents to the improved mountain bike and hiking trails, and adding the improved flow for vehicles in the southwest corner of the park, we anticipate more park users, happier park users and quite possibly healthier park users.”
Coinciding with the Franke Park Renaissance, this site saw the completion (phase two) of the Spy Run Creek Streambank Restoration with design and construction support from the INDR’s Lake and River Enhancement Program and funding support from the Great Lakes Commission through their Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture—Natural Resources Conservation Service under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The approximately 1,000 linear foot project is located downstream from the new bridge, close to the Foellinger Theatre.
The new entrance is part of the Franke Park Renaissance Phase One which kicked off in summer of 2023 after five years of planning and fundraising with an Advisory Group of major park stakeholders and robust public input.
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