Packard Park (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

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Community park including a ball diamond. Former site of the Packard Piano & Organ Company

Fort Wayne and neighborhood officials gathered June 21 to pay homage to the Packard Park area’s past as well as its future.

Members of the Packard Area Planning Alliance received a $1,500 grant from Fort Wayne’s Neighborhood Community Grant program to install a historic marker telling about the Packard Piano and Organ Co., which sat at Packard Park from 1872 until it closed and was demolished in the 1930s.

Its founder, Isaac Packard, came to Fort Wayne from Chicago after his original organ company was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire — legend has it he hopped on a train and told the crew to drop him off wherever his money ran out.

Upon arriving in northeast Indiana, Packard convinced a group of local leaders to help him build the company, which opened in 1871.

The first organ to come out of the company came in 1872; Packard died less than 18 months later, and was succeeded in the business by Steven Bond and then his son Albert Bond.

“The company’s pump organs (or reed organs) were renowned for their superior sound and craftsmanship, making the light, compact instruments popular for smaller churches and for enjoyment in the parlors of finer homes,” the historical marker reads.

In the 1890s the company began making pianos — which were gaining in popularity — and in the 1920s, as radio sales grew, the company began making fine radio cabinets. It even made wooden propellors for U.S. Army aircraft during World War I because of its fine reputation.

At its height, Packard pianos were world renowned — the company employed about 400 workers in Fort Wayne and had offices in Hamburg, Germany; Melbourne, Australia; and London, PAPA Fairfield Corridor Chairman Ned Edington said.

As the company grew, so did the neighborhoods around it, Edington said, including some of the dozen that make up PAPA.

But the Great Depression hit the company, and by 1930 it was closed. In 1933 the Fort Wayne Park Board purchased the abandoned structure and demolished it, making way for Packard Park, which was constructed in 1937.

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry said the marker was a tribute to Packard and others who helped shape the area and the larger city of Fort Wayne into what it is today.

“It’s important from time to time to preserve something to remind us all of who contributed to a particular area, who contributed to the economic development of a community, who contributed to the historical value of a community. That’s what this is all about,” he said. “Thanks to you, we are what we are.”

Members of PAPA and the parks department also spoke to the future of the area.

They spoke of another neighborhood grant recipient — a mural at Fairfield and Maxine that is in the works — as well as the recent designation of the area as an urban corridor as promising developments.

“I’m tremendously impressed by the amount of talent that’s involved in these neighbors. We’re trying to make this area stronger and better and hopefully we can do that,” Edington said.

One of the next areas PAPA is looking to work on is updating streetlights south of Rudisill Boulevard, adding additional neighborhood associations in the area and continued improvements at Packard Park, Edington said.

“We’re dedicated to the future of Packard Park,” Holly Munoz, chairman of Packard Park Initiative, said. “Our goal is to work with city officials to make changes here on the south side (and in) the park that will positively impact our area. Myself and many others believe this area has the potential to spark pride in our community and solidify our belief that we live in some of the best neighborhoods in Fort Wayne.”

Neighborhood Improvement Grants are given to neighborhood projects that “beautify public spaces and strengthen community involvement,” according to a release from the city. The city is currently taking applications for 2019 grants.