The leaders behind the bold Fort Wayne Next development plan have offered to work with Fort Wayne Community Schools on locating its new high school football stadium downtown instead of at Snider High School.
Fort Wayne Next news release:
Business leaders offer to partner with FWCS on location of new high school football facility
Fort Wayne, Indiana (March 24, 2025) – The leaders behind the bold Fort Wayne Next development plan have offered to work with Fort Wayne Community Schools on locating its new high school football stadium downtown instead of at Snider High School, a move that would enhance the facility’s versatility and utilization while helping save the district significant money in the process.
Instead of a stadium located at Snider that would cost the district $30 million initially and be limited in its functionality beyond football, integrating it with Fort Wayne Next’s Riverfront Planned Urban District would only cost FWCS an estimated $25 million while opening its usage to all FWCS schools and create significant new fundraising and revenue-generating opportunities. FWCS could use the expected $5 million in savings for upgrades to the track and other facilities at Snider.
The football stadium would be a foundational part of Fort Wayne Next’s flagship project, the Riverfront Planned Urban District, which will centrally locate four world-class facilities to maximize economic impact – an arena / event center, natatorium, youth-sports complex and professional soccer / high school football stadium. The Fort Wayne Next plan will also add an additional $55 million to the football stadium budget in order to make it a world-class football/soccer experience similar to Parkview Field in downtown Fort Wayne and facilities in similar markets around the country.
Integrating the football stadium into the Riverfront Planned Urban District would also generate significant annual savings for FWCS by eliminating the need to pay for ongoing and recurring maintenance costs, which experts say can run into the tens of millions of dollars – with some estimates as high at $30 million – over the lifespan of a single-use football stadium like the one planned for Snider. While FWCS is aware of these costs, it has not currently included them in its proposed budget for the new stadium.
“The opportunity to significantly expand this stadium’s impact for the community while also helping them save money – at a time when FWCS needs to put scarce resources into education– makes this a dream opportunity and perfect solution for Fort Wayne Community Schools,” said Eric Doden. “We are eager to partner with them on developing a world-class facility available to all of the district’s schools and students that will also help them create new sources of revenue. Giving the district an amazing facility while helping them save money is a win-win for them and the community as a whole.”
A commissioned report from Hunden Partners, one of the country’s leading advisors in destination real estate, tourism and placemaking, emphasizes that cities that combine several event and entertainment venues as part of a compelling and walkable mixed-use district drive
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