Hello Neighbors!
It’s another grand day in the ol’ West End.
Thanks to all of you who attended our April member meeting. We had such a large turnout that we had to scramble to set up more chairs – which is awesome! A reminder to others who might be reading this, but don’t attend the meetings we’d love to have you. Our meetings are always the third Monday of the month at 7 pm at Emmanuel Lutheran on West Jefferson Blvd. Please plan to join us.
Electric Works Phase 2
Our special guest this month was Katy Silliman, a former West Central-ite and current Electric Works Senior Experience Director. Katy provided a fabulous update on the Elex, a 2-building development that will wrap the current parking garage bordered by Broadway, Lavina and Van Buren extended. All financing has been finalized and work is now energetically underway. You’ll soon see a huge crane rise up above the property which will bring the buildings out of the ground. The first is scheduled to open late in 2025 with the second early in 2026. See our meeting minutes for more details from Katy’s update.
This update led to some great discussions around parking and the impact adding hundreds of new residential units in one place could have on existing residents parking options. Katy noted that main parking option for Elex residents will be the attached parking garage, which will be for a monthly fee – very standard for any of our downtown apartment buildings. Quite likely some residents will not choose this option and try to find free parking on the streets near the Elex. Given this concerns were raised the shortage of street parking this might create, so options like permit parking should be explored. As action I will be reaching out to Goeff Paddock, our City Council representative, to see what strategies are available.
Historic Preservation
Our WCNA Historic Preservation Committee has been very active and successful since its re-formation last year. However, they have had a couple members who had to drop off so could use some additional volunteers. If interested please contact Craig Leonard at craigleonard1949@gmail.com or Charlotte Weybright at cwey0409@frontier.com.
Neighborhood Safety
Remember our very first Safety Sunday is coming up on Sunday, April 28 from 4 – 5 pm. The beauty is you don’t have to go anywhere – except outside your home. The intent is create an opportunity for neighbors to get outside and meet one another, hopefully exchanging contact information to help keep an eye on things. At a meeting late last year, the Deputy Sherriff and our neighborhood police liaison informed our association that the best defense against burglaries and other crimes is a well connected and active neighborhood. So while we have both, there’s still more we can do to protect ourselves and our properties.
Being connected is just one step. The second critical one is to be active. Please report suspicious activities or people, post on our Beyond Porch Parties Facebook page (if you’re not on it, please join), or reach out to your neighbors for additional insights. Our police liaison is Trevan Brown who can be
reached at (260) 427-5400 x4506 or email at Treven.Brown@cityoffortwayne.org. You can also call the non-emergency general police number which is (260) 427-1222.
Last note on this topic, please remember that for WCNA members we have security funds available to purchase cameras, floodlights, package safety boxes and other security items. You can find these resources here.
For all of the 2024 WCNA events -which are many – please visit the Events page.
See you on the front porch!
Joel Sauer, President