Fort Wayne's Promenade Park

In July, the city of Fort Wayne opened a new park along the banks of the Saint Mary's River. The grand opening was bustling with special events and activities, but on an ordinary day it is a pleasant place but not anything special.

Since I don't know what was there before, I can't comment on the degree of improvement. I think for locals and folks working in downtown businesses this is a convenient place to spend time out in the fresh air; the playground seemed to be enjoyed by the children.

On the weekends and occasional special events, one can ride for a fee the Sweet Breeze boat. Except for a few biking/walking trails, there aren't many places to access the river.

We walked thru the park, crossing over a bridge to the elevated Tree Canopy Trail that led to the playground.

In another area of the park, there were Adirondack chairs, but most people chose the large swings or benches with a little shade rather than the sunny garden area.

A concrete amphitheater is used for concerts. There is a small fast-food eating establishment, Trubble Brewing, with alcoholic beverages but just a small selection of food items. In that building were public restrooms.

Closer to the Superior Street side are corn hole games and ping pong "tables".

Nearby is the commissioned sculpture titled Water Fountain.

Though signs were posted that there was no swimming allowed in the river, there were some rocks to hop around on in the park. There was a little water (from rain?) but I wonder if during  the weekends there might be water all around the rocks.

I had fun jumping from rock to rock. No little kids in this area while I was there, however.

A business rented kayaks and bikes. There was a trail that went towards Headwaters Park (over by the fort), but we didn't walk all  the way over there, just partway. We saw some bike riders and lots of people walking their dogs.

This is Science Place. We saw it from the trail. It is a children's museum.

 The park is adjacent to downtown.

 Unfortunately, there is roadwork next to the park, making it a noisy, dusty place today.

A somewhat large dirt parking lot is where most of the visitors parked. Maybe it will be paved in the future? There was some street parking, but really I felt directional signs to parking was suboptimal. We had to turn around twice until we finally found the dirt lot. Today was so nice that it was good to be outside, and since we were in Fort Wayne for a medical appointment anyway, it was not a big effort to visit. Probably wouldn't make a special trip though.