Historic Fort Wayne Coalition, 2012

Instead of crappy news all the time, how about something positive.

We counted up our volunteer hours for the past year. Our organization has around 130 people if I am not mistaken. Altogether, we logged 10,757 man-hrs of volunteer work, which if I recall correctly is billed at a nominal rate of approx $20/hr for 501[[c)3 purposes.

Translation:
We handed almost a quarter million dollars worth of skilled and unskilled labor to the City of Detroit for free, to keep this landmark open to the public.

...not including building materials and other costs, such as toilet paper, food, or gasoline for mowers, etc.

I'm not stating this to berate the City for neglect, since if it wasn't for our extremely good working relationship with city government, we would not be allowed to operate on site at all--I just want to highlight just how much this organization has accomplished by itself, with almost no public recognition.

We tend to do our thing quietly within the walls of the fort [[and I don't want to speak for the group on the whole, since I am not the spokesperson), but this coming year but we are going to be operating on a whole new level, and some very positive things may be coming down the pipe for this site.

As always we are always looking for more volunteers.
http://historicfortwaynecoalition.com/involved.html

I'm going to look into volunteering if I can squeeze some time in. I'm currently trying to get more involved in web design/maintenance. Anyone I can talk to regarding that department? I could try and get some experience in that field while helping their cause too.

That is positive news! I used to work for the Historical Museum at their warehouse in the fort - I always enjoyed driving by the different buildings and imagining it as a busy place full of uniforms back in the day. It's great to hear so many hours have been dedicated to preserving, maintaining and restoring various aspects of the Fort.

Have students from the Randolph school been working on any preservation projects this year? I saw a presentation a few years ago about work they were doing inside one of the buildings and, as a preservationist, it was fantastic to see a younger generation learning some of those skills and hopefully gaining an appreciation for older structures.

It's too bad more of the Fort isn't situated closer to the River. I always used to give a good narrative about the fort and its significance while narrating for Diamond Jack's River Tours, but it's hard because you don't see much besides the parade grounds.

I hope 2013 is a good year for the Fort!! Please keep us updated on your projects and progress.