FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – At Monday’s Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission meeting, steps were taken to bring a new Culver’s to the Southtown Centre.

The resolution to sell the lot to construct the Culvers passed, but due to a competition agreement with a Wendy’s in shopping center, the location will not be able to open until 2026.

“I think Culver’s will be a great addition out there,” said Jonathan Leist, Fort Wayne’s redevelopment director.

Lesit told WANE 15 locations like Culver’s where people can gather beside work and home (called ‘third locations’) are a big part of the city’s Southeast Strategy, which is an effort to revitalize southeast Fort Wayne.

“We had our Starbucks announcement about a year or so ago, and it’s already open,” Leist said. “Culver’s will be another addition, another nice place out there for people to go.”

The Redevelopment Commission also looked at moving forward with the Poka-Bache connector trail.

The ambitious project looks to connect Pokagon State Park in Angola to Oubache State Park in Bluffton, and in the process connect 140 recreation areas, 10 libraries, and 50 schools.

At Monday’s meeting, they passed a resolution to conduct a feasibility study on how Fort Wayne could construct necessary pieces of the 81-mile trail.

To fund the study, commissioners approved $43,200 in Tax Increment Financing.

“We have to check to make sure that it’s going to be feasible to put a trail there,” said Holly Petzak, a Fort Wayne Project coordinator. “We have to find the safest way for people to travel in that area.”

While a completion date for the trail is still far out in Fort Wayne and dependent on other municipalities to finish in its entirety, Leist told WANE 15 this first step sets up Fort Wayne to start putting together an actionable timeline.