A railroad to the future
In early June, I took off to the west coast for a week of exploring startup culture and entrepreneurship in the Silicon Valley. Needless to say, I was entirely unprepared for that trip - the Bay Area is different (in many ways) from any other location I've traveled to thus far. It was exhilarating, captivating, and terrifying all at the same time. I know many of you have been waiting for me to post my thoughts and observations from the trip, but you'll have to wait a bit longer - I've split the Silicon Valley trip into two parts. I'll be heading back there next week to participate in an event I was invited to by the Thiel Foundation, but will be taking a bit of extra time to digest how the Valley works and study some fascinating things going on in San Francisco like the 5M Project.
During my first trip to bay area (which was spent in San Jose, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Francisco), I learned more about trains than I ever have in my life. Similarly, I learned more about Fort Wayne's history than I ever knew existed, courtesy of Kelly Lynch. Since Kelly and I were both planning trips to the same area near the same time, it made sense for us to travel together. So we packed our bags and headed to the Silicon Valley in early June with dreams of startups and trains in mind.
For those of you who know Kelly, you're aware of what a monumental asset he is to our region. At 27 years old, he has an undying passion for historic rail preservation and an equally momentous passion for helping Fort Wayne discover - create, rather - it's identity. He often describes Fort Wayne as being the "awkward teenager that isn't quite sure which crowd it wants to hang out with yet, so we try a little of everything." I couldn't put that in better terms myself.
But where do historic rail and community identity intersect? What's the relationship between those two? It's a more concrete relation than you would imagine. Historically, Fort Wayne was a rail hub in the United States - freight cars, locomotives, and related rail components were manufactured here. Looking through historical records, the significance is astounding.. yet it seems to be a crucial part of our identity that we've all but forgotten - a beauty we've left to age, wither, and die with other faded memories of what we once were, but no longer are.
At one time, Fort Wayne was a hub for creation, innovation, and transportation. From the conception of the television to the creation of mammoth-sized locomotives, to later becoming a powerhouse for creation of large trucksand military vehicles, we had an identity of mobilization that was constantly moving us towards the future. Somewhere along the line, we broke our love affair with our identity of mobility and began to feel.. awkward. We tested the waters of other messages (the awkward-teenager syndrome), but nothing we tried on really seemed to fit right. The vision Kelly has that he shared with me on that trip offers us an opportunity to reclaim that lost identity and use it to propel us forward in a confident, steadfast manner called Headwaters Junction.
In absolute full discloser, I wasn't fully aware of what Headwaters Junction was nor what significance a rail-themed development had in relation to Fort Wayne's identity until I spent a week picking Kelly's brain in San Francisco - which is rather embarrassing, given that I've known Kelly for some timenow and have been aware of the idea for years. After hearing the passion and enthusiasm in Kelly's voice as he eloquently drew out the relationship between Fort Wayne's history and its identity, I can safely say it's been a long time since something has gotten me this enthused.
I'll only offer a snapshot of what the proposal entails in this post since a plethora of details are available online, but in short - this is an opportunity to connect Fort Wayne's historical identity to its ever-evolving future byplacing a rail-themed development in the heart of our city and utilizing it as a connection hub to numerous disjointed assets, all while involving patrons in an immersive journey to create Fort Wayne's future cemented in its past. The development would be placed on the North River property near the confluence of the three rivers downtown and involve a number of mixed-use structures that provide opportunities to eat, shop, and be entertained. At the heart of it all, you find the beautiful 765 locomotive herself (I suggest you watch this video that Kelly filmed so that you fully understand how majestic it is). View the full development proposal by clicking here.
This isn't your typical mass-mixed-use development, obviously. That's because this is purposeful development; this is something that achieves the much-desired impacts of the North River development (whatever it may be), but also offers the benefits of a historical attachment to Fort Wayne's past, a catalyst for reclaiming our identity, and places an emphasis on connectivity with existing assets so that everything is working in a comprehensive format that further multiplies the desired impact. This is something that makes sense. A lot of sense.
As you scroll through the homepage of the website, one phrase reaches out and grabs my attention: "experience Fort Wayne's story and create your own." Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but the way this is worded sends chills up my spine. Headwaters Junction offers an opportunity for you to experience - to fully immersive yourself - in Fort Wayne's story, while creating your own. You're involving yourself in Fort Wayne's concrete historical identity and using it as a foundation for the evolution of our identity moving forward. Knowing where we've been is critical to identifying where we're headed.
For a long time, I've heard people say that Fort Wayne doesn't know how to talk about itself. I've always hated that phrase because it's entirely counter-productive to the purpose people have for saying it. We may have forgotten who we are, but we have every opportunity at our disposal to continue writing that narrative and pick up the pen once again. We didn't forget how to talk about ourselves, we forgot to keep writing the story. To find our future, we first must remember our past. Headwaters Junction offers us an opportunity to remember and - most importantly - embrace what has made us who we are as we look towards who we will become.
Hats off to you, Kelly Lynch, for realizing how critical a steam locomotive is to the Summit City's future.