Fort Wayne open this weekend?

**Guideboat** · May-20-09, 04:51 PM

My son wants to visit Fort Wayne this weekend, does anyone know if it is open to the public?

The Historic Fort Wayne Coalition lists Living History Time Line over this weekend, but offers no other info as to hours or even if it is public event. I haven't yet heard anything back from their info e-mail.

Thanks.

**davemarc** · May-20-09, 06:35 PM

I'll be down there friday,I can ask....

**Guideboat** · May-20-09, 09:41 PM

Thank you!

**PlymouthRes** · May-21-09, 04:27 PM

Fort Wayne is open everyday from April thru December, and you can get a guided tour if you call in advance and arrange it with the Recreation Department.

Apparently, the Living History Timeline event is still on, although this weekend that event will be competing with Greenfield Village and their Memorial Day celebration, which almost every re-enactor in the state will be at. The Timeline event, therefore, may be a bit thin for representation.

As for the tours, the city staff will be giving them, not the Coalition members. Our tours [[Coalition, that is!) are quite a bit different than the tours given by the city, so you may want to pick a time when you can get the Coalition version.

That being said, since I am not a re-enactor, I will only be visiting the Greenfield Village event on Saturday, so, if necessary, I could try to get there to give you the tour myself, as I am not entirely sure what the Living History event will provide in the way of tours.

Let me know if I can help, and maybe we can arrange something convenient to both of us [[Sunday is the best day for me!).

Res

**Guideboat** · May-21-09, 04:57 PM

I appreciate the offer, but I have to go on Saturday, since this is an outing for my son's birthday.

We can still get into the casemates w/o a tour guide, correct? I suspect the boys will enjoy that the most.

**Guideboat** · May-21-09, 04:58 PM

Oh, what's a tour cost BTW?

**PlymouthRes** · May-22-09, 08:54 AM

Guideboat-

I am sorry that I can't make it there for you on Saturday. The Greenfield Village event is really a premier event for Civil War re-enactors, so perhaps you could consider that as a replacement event. You won't be dissappointed.

Also, all of the casemates, with the exception of one, are open again at the Fort. The Coalition has now completed all but the one casemate cover replacements and they are once again accessable to the public for the first time in 20 or so years.

As to the cost, I believe that there is little to no fee for the walking tour. Just ask at the gate when you sign in.

Try to make an attempt to get out in July [[11th and 12th) for Civil War Days if possible. This year we have some new events that will be sure to make it our best year yet.

See you at the Fort!

**Guideboat** · May-22-09, 06:23 PM

I worked at and on the Civil War programs at Greenfield Village for many years, so I have been there done that. Plus for $5 a carload I can get my son and his friends into Fort Wayne. Greenfield Village is a little rich for me when taking in a large group.

For everyone's info, Fort Wayne is open 10:00 - 3:00 On Saturday and Sunday for the Living History Timeline event.

**Guideboat** · May-23-09, 03:26 PM

Well, we found out at the gate that the Living History Timeline was canceled until next weekend. So much for updating websites. We ended up being the only people in the star fort since it was conveniently open.

Fort Wayne needs a sugar daddy to drop it some $. Things were looking pretty rough. The boys enjoyed running around in the fort and clambering on the armor. I'm glad I brought along a flashlight so we could see in the casemates.

Does the city have any involvement in the fort or does the Coalition pretty much take care of the place?

**Baselinepunk** · May-24-09, 09:14 AM

I agree that the Fort would benefit from a chunk of change being dropped on it.

Filed under IMHO -- unfortunately many of the cultural repositories in the area are treading through some tough fiduciary challenges. The economic conditions around these parts are really putting the squeeze on donor contributions, not to mention the hit these places took regarding their investments.

Considering the points brought up by this thread, [[and in the spirit of historic preservation) perhaps some folks around here would like to become members?

http://www.historicfortwaynecoalition.com/involved.html

A suggestion that I have is to make the website a little easier for people to make contributions via electronic means [[perhaps paypal, etc.). Some people may want to contribute without becoming a member.

I must say that the people who take care of the Fort really have their work cut out for them; they do a great job.