CITYSCAPES

'Magic' made Columbia Street disappear

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By KEVIN LEININGER
from the archives of The News-Sentinel

This photograph shows Columbia Street as it appeared before The Landing was restored.

In the late 1960s, the city did one of its greatest magic tricks: it made almost an entire street disappear. And it wasn't just any street - it was one of the oldest and most historic thoroughfares in Fort Wayne.

Today, all that remains of Columbia Street is a one-block stretch between Calhoun and Harrison streets. And even that isn't called Columbia Street anymore - most people just call it ``The Landing.''

That name was chosen when that section of Columbia Street was restored in 1965 because the ``turnaround'' and docks of the old Wabash and Erie Canal were once at the northeast corner of Columbia and Harrison streets.

It was taken in the early 1960s. Most of the buildings visible in the older picture are still standing, though most by this time were badly in need of repair. At the west end of Columbia Street in both pictures is the old Randall Hotel, which was torn down in the 1960s and replaced by a parking lot.

Despite the historical significance of Columbia Street's canal-era buildings, most deserved their fate when the wrecker's ball finally sealed their doom. As the iron balls crashed into the century-old bricks, the rats could been seen scurrying away in search of new homes.

Today little is left of old Columbia Street. In its place are the City-County Building's parking lot, Freimann Square and the Performing Arts Center.

--Feb. 6, 1982

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