Leaders from Electric Works and the City of Fort Wayne announced today that the former General Electric campus has been officially designated as a historic district. The National Park Service officially provided this designation, listing the campus as “General Electric Fort Wayne Electric Works Historic District.”
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic and architecturally significant assets, including buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts worthy of preservation. Listing in the National Register is the first step towards eligibility for National Park Service-administered federal preservation tax credits.
“The former GE campus was an economic engine for Fort Wayne for over a century, where pioneering inventors developed new technologies that launched legacy companies we still know today. We celebrate that history, but it’s more than nostalgia. Electric Works is about creating a place that inspires a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs for the next 100 years,” said Jeff Kingsbury, chief connectivity officer for Ancora, lead developer of Electric Works. “We appreciate the role the City of Fort Wayne, the State Historic Preservation Office, ARCH, Indiana Landmarks, and the National Park Service played in securing this important designation.”
Electric Works is the largest adaptive reuse project in Indiana and the largest historic adaptive reuse project to receive the National Register of Historic Places designation in Indiana.
“Electric Works has been a tremendous addition to our community, and it’s great to have the area be recognized on the National Register of Historic Places,” said Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry. “Public-private partnerships continue to make a positive difference in Fort Wayne. It’s important for us to recognize and respect history and look forward to new opportunities and successes.”
Added Kingsbury, “Saving important places requires public-private partnerships. State and federal tax credit programs are smart investments that work with private capital to make projects like Electric Works possible.”
The official designation can be found here.