The board heard at its Sept. 23 meeting from Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters. Peters said because a lot of the funding for those types of venues comes from the Capital Improvement Board, it made sense to start there. The board oversees the disbursement of the Allen County Supplemental Food and Beverage Tax funds, as well as manages the Grand Wayne Convention Center’s operations.

The county is already looking at a number of the 40 buildings it inhabits to find ways to streamline operations and eliminate duplication in its buildings, Peters told the board.

“As we finish that study, we’ve then gotten to the point in discussion about, ‘Well, wait a minute. What about the jail?’ If we move out of there in the years to come, what does that empty space look like?”

Last year the commissioners authorized a study from Elevatus Architecture related to the future of the Allen County Jail. As Peters said, it sits on prime riverfront land downtown, and has overcrowding issues. Whether the jail would be part of the newer study, because of its connections to the downtown footprint, riverfront development and parks system, is uncertain, Peters said.

The coliseum, home to the Fort Wayne Komets hockey team and a number of sport events as well as trade shows and large concerts, opened Sept. 28, 1952. Over the years it was gone through expansions. In May 1989, the 108,000-square-foot Exposition Center was built to provide flexible space for trade shows and included banquet rooms and meeting spaces. The coliseum’s roof was raised as part of a project started in 2001. In 2015, the Conference Center was added to the south end of the Expo Center.

But it’ll be 70 years old next year.

“I don’t think there’s many Major League Baseball parks, aside from maybe Fenway and (Wrigley) that are older than that,” Peters said.

So in years to come it may no longer be serving its purpose. No, there’s no plans to demolish the coliseum any time soon. It brings in $100 million a year in income and serves the community well, Peters said.

But if it or the county’s other public and community venues in 20-25 years need to be replaced, where would they go and what would the county do with the space, Peters asked.

CIB president Jim Cook said it was wise to be forward looking.

Regarding the coliseum, “What is the expected life,” Cook said. “I’m sure there’s anticipated investments and capital improvements that have be made. At what point do you say it’s not worth continuing to do that, and think about what’s next for this community. And on top of that, what do we need?”

The cost of such a study will be discussed later. 

The board heard that the return on its $6 million investment in the properties west of the Grand Wayne would be 4.6%.

CIB member Don Steininger, a real estate developer, said of the closing, “When you do real estate deals there’s an old adage in the business that says ‘Time kills deals.’ It is my belief that there’s no reason to put it off.” 

The board will continue to move forward to closing by the end of the year on Restaurant Row Properties, long referred to as the “fast-food block,” even though it only consists of a portion of the 300 block of Jefferson Boulevard by Webster Street. 

The CIB is buying the properties, currently home to tenants Taco Bell, King Gyro and Rally’s, but has no plans to make any changes. It’s buying the properties with an eye to the future because the Grand Wayne is landlocked.