Neighbors want damaged Scott's rebuilt

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -- Indiana State Representative Win Moses and City Councilman Russ Jehl have joined forces with area neighborhood presidents and their associations in a letter of request to The Kroger Company to rebuild the now closed Scott’s grocery store at the corner of North Anthony Blvd and Crescent Ave.

To see a copy of the letter, click here.

The store shut its doors in mid-May when structural damage to the building was discovered. On May 31, Central Division Public Affairs Manager John Elliott of parent company, Kroger, said officials are still waiting for additional information from engineers and other professionals regarding the structure.

At that time, Elliot said they expected and answer by the end of the next week, which would have been June 8, but there has been no word from Kroger as to the fate of the building and preservation of the grocery service.

“The 4,000 property owners in these close-by neighborhoods have supported this grocery store through myriad incarnations over the past six decades. They rely on it as a friendly, walkable neighborhood store where they and employees are a family of sorts. They don’t want that to disappear. It’s a distinct and unique market that needs to remain,” said Jehl.

The Fort Wayne City Council called the effort ’somewhat of a rare display’ when refereeing to the coordinated support amongst neighborhoods and state and local elected officials to advocate for preserving the real estate.

However, city council said it does speak loudly about the feelings of its patrons. Along with Jehl and Moses, the presidents of Northside, North Anthony, New Kirkwood Park, Kirkwood Park, Forest Park Blvd and Frances Slocum neighborhood associations want to make sure The Kroger Company is well aware that they all want to continue their support of Scott’s at this location.

“We certainly hope that this large show of support will convince the good folks at Kroger Company to see how restoring this building and its service to these neighborhoods will be well worth their effort,” Moses stated. “Russ and I are willing to do all we can to help make this work.”

Representative Moses and Councilman Jehl have asked The Kroger Company to maintain communication with these active neighborhood associations throughout their decision-making process, and the elected officials offer their assistance in the process, as well.

After the letter was sent, Kroger announced that the company’s engineers are currently in negotiations with the Rogers family, who are the owners of the N. Anthony store building.

At this time, Kroger said they are evaluating their options, but they do know that the building may be beyond repair.

Negoitations with the Rogers family will determine if Kroger will need to plan a new building on North Anthony or modify one or more nearby Kroger stores, including N. Clinton Street, to accommodate customers from the N. Anthony store.

“Either way, we will work with neighborhood groups, elected officials and the city administration to be fully operational as quickly as possible,” said Central Division President, Bob Moeder. “We are deeply appreciative of all the messages we have received in support of the North Anthony store. Ultimately, however, the final decision rests with the Rogers family. They own the property, they must decide whether to invest in a replacement building and they will determine whether or not a replacement building is designed to host a successful Kroger store or some other tenant. The Rogers family is preparing options for our consideration and this process may take several more weeks.”

Kroger also maintained that the company is committed to ensuring that no Kroger associates in the Fort Wayne region will lose their jobs as a result of the store closing. We know this also is a priority for our customers and neighbors in Fort Wayne. All associates from the North Anthony store have been temporarily reassigned to other locations.