I harbor serious reservations about the county’s proposed new jail because of its oppressive fiscal impact and its only temporarily relieving an overcrowding problem without acknowledging, addressing and effectively resolving the two core causes of overcrowding.
As long as there is a chance the courts will reject and derail the construction, we citizens of Allen County should speak out against this project, not on legal technicalities, but on its merits.
First, the $350 million initial budget “ask” to taxpayers does not come close to covering all the necessary expenses attendant to the actual jail construction. The real price tag will be higher, likely much higher.
Even the optimistic $350 million figure is mammoth for a tax-funded structure, especially one that is a stretch to be considered an “investment.”
Second, how much more efficient would be investing that unprecedented, jaw-dropping amount of money to treat the two so readily identifiable and treatable causes of incarceration: substance abuse/addiction and violence-prone mental illness?
These causes are indisputable fact. Treating/housing in existing facilities rather than in a new “caged warehouse” those suffering from these two conditions alone would reduce the number of people needing to be jailed by two-thirds. That reduction would number enough to preclude the need for a new, bigger jail.
We know better. We can do better.
Fort Wayne has been down this road of approving or rejecting major capital projects many times before. When voted upon by public referendum or by elected officials, the projects we approve — and those we do not — reflect our values, often what we think we deserve.
Following is a list of some major city, county or joint projects in my lifetime. History has proved they represented our collective good judgment and high self-worth for the most part, but not always.
The new jail does not reflect our best judgment. It will not prove to be a wise, prudent investment.
1950 In a citywide referendum, Fort Wayne rejects 100% federally financed north/south, east/west four-lane expressway bisecting the heart of downtown. It thereby snubs a no-cost jump-start to incalculable area population increase and economic development. The reason for the rejection is to prevent mass displacement of those residing in the heart of the city, where the proposed expressways would intersect. More than 50% of that central-city population is Black.
1952 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum opens with seating capacity of 8,100 for hockey and 10,240 for basketball. The facility immediately proves to be a major community asset as home for professional basketball (NBA’s Fort Wayne Pistons 1952-57, later G-league teams), professional ice hockey (high minor-league Fort Wayne Komets since 1952), later, professional indoor soccer and, always, nationally and internationally acclaimed live entertainment.
1953 Fort Wayne Municipal Airport’s current terminal building is constructed with major renovations and expansions in 1981, throughout the 1990s and ongoing through today. Improvements and expansion to runways and other infrastructure and amenities continually enhance air travel for business and leisure.
1967 Allen County Main Public Library moves to new, greatly expanded downtown location, with a world-renowned genealogy department.
1968-70 City and county cooperate to construct new, efficient multi-million-dollar City-County Building in downtown Fort Wayne.
1994-99 City-initiated Headwaters Park is constructed to provide flood control while providing expansive, beautiful open space with pavilions for hosting citywide festivals, ice skating, etc.
2001 County votes to raise the roof of the 39-year-old Memorial Coliseum rather than replace it by building a new downtown sports-entertainment center. The roof-raising and increased seating capacity prove to be a sound investment. However, the option public officials rejected would have virtually guaranteed foot traffic sufficient to support a bustling, thriving downtown that would also serve as full-blown tourist magnet at least 300 days and nights a year. Today, we are inching ever closer to that coveted destination; but we could have reached and started enjoying it 23 years ago.
2003–05 Renovation and expansion of Grand Wayne Convention Center provide a top-quality, prestigious facility with 225,000 square feet for conventions, trade shows, expositions, meetings, conferences and banquets — a major boom for tourism and for local highest-end hospitality.
2007 Mayor Graham Richard champions and City Council votes to fund a new downtown baseball stadium, Parkview Field, to replace still-functional Wizards Stadium for its single A minor-league team, renamed the TinCaps. The stadium proves to be an unqualified artistic and financial success from the get-go, despite well over 90% disapproval for funding such a stadium. Most significantly, it is generally credited as the catalyst for public and private investment in and the rebirth of downtown Fort Wayne.
2017 Planning for Phase 1 of three of the Electric Works project to start in 2021. With Do it Best, this public-private partnership successfully repurposes and converts the long-abandoned General Electric “brownfield” site to a multiuse gem of both an anchor and a catalyst for further growth in the depressed area immediately southwest of downtown.
2021 Phase 1 of three of Promenade Park, the Landing and the Lofts combine to revitalize a significant segment of downtown, capitalizing on the natural attraction of the confluence of Fort Wayne’s three rivers at the north edge of downtown.
2023 Plans for Phases 2 and 3 Promenade Park plus the North River Development promise farther reaching, significantly more transformational revitalization of greater downtown.
2023 County Council votes to vacate existing downtown jail to construct a new, bigger one in east Allen County, with an estimated $350 million price tag. Time will tell whether the courts allow it to become a reality and, if so, how expensive it turns out to be and, ultimately, how wise an investment.
Larry Lee, president of Leepoxy since 1975, is a lifelong student of and proponent for civil rights, human rights and social justice.