Mold Remediation in Fort Wayne, IN

FORT WAYNE — Local business owner Mark Music formally announced that he is building a 7,500-plus-seat soccer-specific stadium, which will be the home of Fort Wayne FC, beginning in 2026. The stadium will be located on the south side of Bass Road, adjacent to and west of Interstate 69. Music retained the architectural services of Fort Wayne-local firm Design Collaborative, who released the initial renderings, and will also be collaborating with developer BND Commercial.

Music said in the announcement, “While this will be an incredible stadium for soccer fans and event attendees, we want to look beyond the field to the potential of contributing to the growth of sport in northeast Indiana and beyond. Sports is an integral part of today’s society and adds to the quality of place. Soccer will continue to grow especially with the World Cup phenomenon that will come to the United States in 2026.”

Music is also the majority owner of Fort Wayne FC.

The new soccer-centric stadium build will have a matchday capacity of 9,280 (including standing-room only) and more than 10,000 for concerts and other events. It will be the largest outdoor stadium in northeast Indiana.

The club, currently competing in United Soccer League (USL) League 2, is expected to make a major announcement regarding their plans to bring professional soccer to northeast Indiana for the 2026 season. The 2025 season will be played at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium, the end of its 2-year partnership announced in January 2023. Fort Wayne FC was established in 2019, with its inaugural season delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and has played for four seasons in the Valley Division of the Central Conference. They were divisional champs for both the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

The new stadium will feature a playing field that will be 7 feet below grade with a wrap-around concourse as well as seat-back style seating in both the lower bowl and upper grandstands — all covered by a continuous canopy roof awning on three sides. There will also be a dedicated space for the club’s supporters’ group. The stadium will include 10 field-level suites that can be used during match days and other events. Additional seating areas will give patrons multiple choices, including premium loge club seats, tabletop terrace views of the action, as well as various drink rail options. The concourse will feature multiple patio concession areas, a beer garden and a special fan zone park.

Music said, “This will be an incredible fan-first stadium, making the fan experience a top priority. There will be many viewing options including premium seating, right down to the pitch level. Because of the steeper rake of the upper grandstand, no seat will be more than 55-foot from the touch line, providing amazing line-of-site views, so everyone will feel like they are part of the action. I’m hopeful that the community will see this soccer park as a true asset for northeast Indiana.”

Other key features will include a 120-foot by 35-foot state-of-the-art LED videoboard, fan shop team store, and four locker rooms. “This stadium is going to be more than just a beautiful structure...it will be a place where long-term soccer fans, as well as newcomers who want to learn more about the world’s most popular sport, come together to celebrate the beautiful game,” Music added. “Fort Wayne was recently ranked as the No. 7 minor-league sports market by the Business Sports Journal — a testament to the Komets and TinCaps, and the city’s amazing fans. We are excited to expand the sports entertainment offerings with what we believe will be a uniquely different experience.”

Naming rights for the stadium and other premium branding assets will soon be made available to potential corporate partners. The stadium will also be available for live concerts, graduations, weddings, festivals, corporate events and other events.

Diversity, equity and inclusion strategist Davyd Hall stepped onto the stage of an Indiana University Fort Wayne lecture hall Monday intent to raise awareness through a presentation that kicked off the campus’s new speaker series.

Hall encouraged the roughly 30 attendees to not just listen to his message – which addressed health equity – but to also participate in the discussion.

“Community growth depends on including every individual voice,” said Hall, principal consultant of IDEAL Consulting Group in Indianapolis. IDEAL stands for inclusion, diversity, equity, access and leadership.

“The goal is not to agree,” he added, “but gain deeper awareness.”

IU Fort Wayne hosted the hourlong event in partnership with United Front, a citywide cultural awareness initiative.

The university, which focuses on health professions, expects to hold the speaker series, “Building a Culture of Belonging,” at least once a semester. Deborah Garrison, inaugural vice chancellor and dean, said sessions will highlight ways students, faculty and staff can make a difference in the community.

“We have our health professions that are really looking to enhance access to health care and reduce these health disparities so we can impact the health and well-being of this community, the region and beyond,” Garrison said. “We see it as really among the most important work that we could be doing.”

Hall spent several minutes defining various terms, including equity. He emphasized that isn’t the same as equality. Equity is creating fairness by providing individuals with the proper resources, treatment and support to meet their unique needs.

“For health equity, we’re always talking about community building,” Hall said. “We’re always talking about trying to figure out people’s identity so that we can make the most impact for that community specifically instead of taking that equality standpoint, just providing everything the same way for everybody.”

Garrison agreed that understanding the various aspects of individuals’ lives is vital.

“It’s really about how do we weave together a framework of care that takes into consideration all the aspects of that person’s life,” she said. “Where are they living? How are they obtaining food? What kind of access do they have to health care, primary care or emergency care? There’s just so much to take into consideration, and when we do all of that, we really lift a person up.”

Garrison described the event’s turnout of about 30 people – students, faculty and staff – as a great place to start. The lecture hall could accommodate 350.

“I look forward to the day when this will be full of people because we’ve made such inroads that nobody wants to miss it,” she said.

Arlington Elementary School first graders didn’t question why Mark Markle wanted them to run across the gym on a recent Friday and place craft sticks in the wall pad’s seams.

The students completed the activity without question and ran across the gym again to fetch the items upon Markle’s request.

“These are just our warm-ups,” the Fort Wayne Community Schools educator said after more exercises involving the wooden sticks.

Markle’s work in physical education will be recognized Thursday during a ceremony in Indianapolis. The Indiana Society of Health and Physical Educators, or INSHAPE, will celebrate him as the 2024 Indiana Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year – an honor that recognizes excellence in teaching physical activity to students with disabilities.

“I modify things so all kids can be out here,” Markle said before leading Arlington students through activities.

He described the statewide recognition as a double honor considering he previously received the award in 2015. He is in his 32nd year of teaching.

Cassie Brooks, INSHAPE president, said in a letter about Markle’s win that research has shown quality physical education contributes to higher academic scores; improved behavior and attendance; and greater social, mental and emotional health.

“Mark’s accomplishments on behalf of Indiana students are impressive,” Brooks said, “and his work inspires colleagues to work toward excellence.”

Markle’s role takes him to various FWCS schools – an element he said he enjoys.

“I really like the fact that I’m sharing my stuff with the young teachers,” he said, referring to the activities he prepares. “Maybe when I’m gone, some of me will still be out there.”

Arlington physical education teacher Jonathan McCoy said Markle often asks what he needs and what his classes are working on.

“That helps a lot,” said McCoy, who has been teaching for 12 years. “It gives me one less thing I have to think about.”

Two other northeast Indiana educators also earned statewide distinction this year, according to the INSHAPE website.

Donna Hazelett of Southwest Allen County Schools received the Pathfinder Award for advocating, recruiting and enhancing opportunities for girls and women in sport and sport leadership.

Maria Rarey of DeKalb High School received the Leadership Award for demonstrating significant leadership with prestige, honor and dignity.

Brooks indicated Markle will be encouraged to apply for the SHAPE America Midwest Teacher of the Year consideration within the next three years. If he wins that, he will become eligible for National Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year.

Teams from Carroll and Bishop Dwenger high schools were among those that advanced to the Indiana Cheer Championship finals, which is sponsored by the Indiana Association of School Principals. The competition is set for Saturday at New Castle High School in New Castle. Visit www.iasp.org/students/cheer for the performance schedule.

Brightmark LLC and Country Meadow Elementary School have launched a Halloween recycling program allowing students and their families to recycle plastic waste generated by the holiday. Brightmark will recycle plastic waste generated from the program at its Ashley Circularity Center, where it will be converted into new products. Schools interested in starting a similar program should contact RecyclingPrograms@brightmark.com.

Sonic Drive-In’s Sonic Foundation provided $1.25 million to match donations to classroom projects requesting books through DonorsChoose, a website that allows people to donate directly to classroom requests submitted by teachers nationwide. Rachael Moore of Adams Elementary School in Fort Wayne received a $251 donation for her project, Audio Books for Beginning Readers.

• The University of Saint Francis will welcome Timothy O’Malley to speak on campus in the Chesterton Academy of St. Scholastica’s Cultura Vitae Lecture Series. O’Malley’s lecture, “Contemplative Education and the Dignity of the Human Person,” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Achatz Hall of Science and John and Toni Murray Research Center, 2701 Spring St. Light refreshments will be available at 7 p.m. Reservations are requested but not required; visit chestertonfw.org. O’Malley is the director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life and academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He researches and teaches at the University of Notre Dame and is the author of nine books.

• Bishop Luers High School will host its annual open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday for prospective students and families. All grades are welcome. Entrance is through the gym doors – Nos. 7 and 8. There is no formal presentation, so arrive anytime.

• Holocaust survivor Irene Miller is scheduled to speak at Huntington University at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Zurcher Auditorium of the Merillat Centre for the Arts on the Huntington campus. The event is free. Tickets can be reserved at huntington.edu/BoxOffice.

• Ivy Tech Community College Fort Wayne will hold Go Ivy Day for area high school students from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 15 at the Student Life Center, 3701 Dean Drive. Attendees can explore degree and certificate programs, meet faculty, tour campus and learn about scholarships and financial aid, among other activities. Sign up at link.ivytech.edu/goivyrsvp. Pre-registration is required to get a free lunch.

Fort Wayne FC majority owner Mark Music announced Monday he is building a soccer-specific stadium that will open in 2026. The stadium, which will have a game-day capacity of 9,280, will be located on the south side of Bass Road, adjacent to I-69.

It’s the latest move for Fort Wayne FC in its quest to move to the professional ranks in 2026.

“While this will be an incredible stadium for soccer fans and event attendees, we want to look beyond the field to the potential of contributing to the growth of sport in northeast Indiana and beyond,” Music, the president and CEO of Ruoff Mortgage, said in news release.

“Sports is an integral part of today’s society and adds to the quality of place. Soccer will continue to grow especially with the World Cup phenomenon that will come to the United States in 2026.”

The new stadium will be the largest outdoor venue in northeast Indiana upon completion, with a capacity of over 10,000 for concerts and other events.

Fort Wayne FC declined to comment on the cost of the stadium or when construction will start, though it affirmed the stadium will be ready for the start of the 2026 season.

“There will be no public funds,” said Scott Sproat, Fort Wayne FC’s chief operations officer. “It’s 100% privately financed.”

Currently a pre-professional team competing in USL League Two, with a roster composed of mainly college and high school players, Fort Wayne FC has alluded multiple times to plans to move to the professional level. It currently competes in the fourth tier of the US soccer pyramid.

“The Club … is expected to make a major announcement regarding their plans to bring professional soccer to northeast Indiana for the 2026 season,” Monday’s news release said.

Last month, Fort Wayne FC hired Sproat, a well-known figure in the northeast Indiana professional sports landscape, to oversee the club’s business operations, including sales, marketing, ticketing, partnerships, promotions and game day operations. Sproat had spent the previous 24 years with the Komets hockey team, most recently as president of business operations, and took on a minority ownership stake with Fort Wayne FC while maintaining partial ownership of the Komets.

Sproat said Monday an announcement on Fort Wayne FC’s move to professional soccer could still come this month.

On the social media platform X, the USL League One account retweeted Fort Wayne FC’s stadium announcement with a pair of eyeball emojis Monday, but Sproat declined to confirm if that would be Fort Wayne FC’s destination.

“The USL is a tremendous, burgeoning league, and we certainly hope to continue the relationship with the USL in many different ways,” Sproat said.

Founded in 2019, Fort Wayne FC began play in 2021 at Bishop Dwenger’s Shields Field. It moved to Bishop D’Arcy Stadium, on the campus of the University of Saint Francis, in 2023 and will continue playing there in 2025. Music donated a high-definition videoboard to Saint Francis when Fort Wayne FC began playing there.

Plans for the new stadium include seating lower than the field in the first row; seatback-style seating in the lower bowl and upper grandstands; a wraparound concourse; a canopy roof that will cover seats with awnings on three sides of the stadium; and 10 field-level suites.

The stadium will also include a team store, four locker rooms and a 120-foot-by-35-foot LED videoboard. The two-sided videoboard will overlook a standing-room section with a beer garden on the southwest of the field.

The videoboard will be more than twice as wide as the HD videoboard at Parkview Field, home of the TinCaps baseball team.

“This will be an incredible fan-first stadium, making the fan experience a top priority,” Music said. “There will be many viewing options including premium seating, right down to the pitch level. Because of the steeper rake of the upper grandstand, no seat will be more than 55 feet from the touch line, providing amazing line-of-sight views, so everyone will feel like they are part of the action.”

Ruoff Mortgage previously planned to build its headquarters on the stadium site. In May, the Allen County commissioners approved a petition to rezone the site from business, technology and industrial park to general commercial.

For the stadium, Music retained the architectural services of Fort Wayne’s Design Collaborative, who released the initial renderings, and will also be working with developer BND Commercial, which previously constructed the SportONE/Parkview Fieldhouse and SportONE/Parkview Icehouse.

While Fort Wayne FC will serve as the stadium’s primary tenant, the facility will have the capability of hosting other outdoor sports. Sproat mentioned high school and college soccer, rugby and lacrosse as other sports that could be played at the stadium. It also hopes to be a venue for corporate events, weddings and graduations.

Corporate naming rights will be available for purchase.

“It’s a soccer-specific stadium, no question. From a viewpoint and an amenity and a sightline standpoint, it’s phenomenal for soccer,” Sproat said. “We will be the home to Fort Wayne FC first and foremost. However, it will be a community asset in the truest sense of the word. We are open to looking at almost any type of event that doesn’t damage or compromise the field.

“You are going to have that feeling of literally being on the pitch in the game. We are going to take the beautiful game in a beautiful city to a beautiful place.”

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The idea of a new soccer stadium in Fort Wayne has been in the works for several months. But now, a local businessman has made plans for such a project official.

Mark Music, owner and CEO of Ruoff Mortgage and majority owner of Fort Wayne Football Club, announced plans Monday for a 7,500-seat stadium that would be the club’s new home beginning in 2026.

Our partners at WPTA-TV reported the project, to be built near I-69 and Bass Road on the city’s west side, will be a privately funded venture led by Music. A specific dollar figure for the investment was not provided.

“While this will be an incredible stadium for soccer fans and event attendees, we want to look beyond the field to the potential of contributing to the growth of sport in northeast Indiana and beyond,” Music said in a news release. “Sports is an integral part of today’s society and adds to the quality of place. Soccer will continue to grow especially with the World Cup phenomenon that will come to the United States in 2026.”

While the stadium will have the seating capacity for 7,500 fans, its design will accommodate a total of nearly 9,300 with standing room only spots for soccer matches and more than 10,000 for concerts and other events, the club said.

Fort Wayne-based Design Collaborative was tapped as the architect for the project.

The design features a wrap-around concourse with seat-back style seating in the lower bowl and upper grandstands, all covered by a continuous canopy roof awning on three sides. The team said there will also be dedicated space for the club’s supporters, as well as 10 field-level suites and additional seating areas.

Music said the design was made with the fan experience as a top priority.

“This stadium is going to be more than just a beautiful structure; it will be a place where long term soccer fans, as well as newcomers who want to learn more about the world’s most popular sport, come together to celebrate the beautiful game,” he said.

A rezoning petition for 32 acres at the site was filed back in March. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette previously reported the site had been set for the new headquarters of Fort Wayne-based Ruoff Mortgage, which in 2022 decided to move into the former Swiss Re building instead.

While a specific timeline for construction was not provided, the club said its 2025 season will be played at the University of Saint Francis Bishop D’Arcy Stadium with the goal of starting the 2026 season at the new stadium.

Fort Wayne Football Club currently competes in the United Soccer League (USL) League 2, and the team expects to make what it says is a major announcement regarding plans to bring professional soccer to northeast Indiana for the 2026 season.

Additionally, the club said naming rights for the stadium and other branding assets will be made available soon for potential corporate partners.

The Kansas City Mavericks played host to the Fort Wayne Komets in an intense two-game series this past weekend at Cable Dahmer Arena, losing both games but earning one point in the league standings in the process.

Despite falling short both Friday and Saturday, the Mavericks showed tenacity, especially in a tightly contested shootout loss.

The team now sits in second place in the ECHL Mountain Division standings ahead of a crucial road series against the Rapid City Rush in Rapid City, South Dakota (more on that below).

Showcasing the Mavericks’ strong first month of the season, forward Max Andreev was named ECHL Plus Player of the Month for October with an impressive +9 plus/minus rating.

Fort Wayne set the pace early in Friday’s game.

Brannon McManus opened the scoring for the Komets at 6:50 in the first period. That was followed by a goal from Justin Taylor early in the second to put KC in a 2-0 hole.

The Mavericks fought back, though, with Cade Borchardt scoring his fifth goal of the season off assists from Marcus Crawford and Max Andreev at 13:17 in the second. That made it 2-1.

Fort Wayne responded soon after, with Taylor netting his second of the night. The Komets led 3-1 going into the final frame.

Fort Wayne’s Connor Corcoran sealed the victory with a third-period goal despite a solid effort from Mavericks goaltender Victor Ostman, who faced 39 shots and made 35 saves.

Saturday night’s rematch brought intense back-and-forth action and saw the Mavericks play a resilient game that culminated in a nail-biting shootout.

Damien Giroux struck first for Kansas City late in the first period, assisted by Charlie Wright and Nate Knoepke. Fort Wayne’s Anthony Petruzzelli responded just two minutes later, tying the game 1-1 before the first intermission.

Petruzzelli scored again in the second period to put the Komets up 2-1, but KC continued to press. Max Andreev scored just over a minute into the third period, with Landon McCallum assisting. That made it 2-2.

Fort Wayne regained the lead on an Ethan Keppen goal midway through the third, only for David Noel to tie it up in dramatic fashion with just 22 seconds left in regulation. Pascal Laberge and McCallum assisted on Noel’s goal.

The Mavericks looked good in a scoreless overtime but fell short in the shootout, losing the game 4-3. Jack LaFontaine finished the contest with 29 saves.

The Mavericks look to build on their strong start as they hit the road to face the Rapid City Rush in a three-game series at Rapid City, S.D.

Games are set for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

This story was originally published November 4, 2024, 10:12 AM.