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February — June 2011
The vote: In early 2011 the city invited the public to suggest names, online, for its new government building — the former Wolf & Dessauer department-store building at Wayne and Clinton, bought in 2009 for $7.3 million and remodelled for $10 million. The runaway winner, with 23,826 votes — more than ten times the closest contender, and already past a thousand votes, triple the runner-up, while the voting was still young — was the Harry Baals Government Center, honouring the four-term mayor (1935–1948 and 1952–1954) whose name, pronounced "balls" in his own lifetime, his descendants have since taken to pronouncing "bales."
The refusal: The city declined its own contest's result. Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy explained: "We realize that while Harry Baals was a respected mayor, not everyone outside of Fort Wayne will know that. We wanted to pick something that would reflect our pride in our community beyond the boundaries of Fort Wayne." The building was named Citizens Square and opened in June 2011. The mayor's great-nephew, Jim Baals, a lifelong resident, said publicly that he was dissatisfied the name would not be considered. The episode ran on national television within days — the rare civic fight in which the city's position was perfectly defensible, its voters' position perfectly sincere, and the collision entirely the work of a surname.
The street: The same surname had already cost the city a quieter surrender: Harry Baals Drive, named for the mayor, was renamed H. Baals Drive after its street signs were repeatedly stolen.
Sources:
- Associated Press reporting, February 2011, and the Citizens Square and Harry Baals records (en.wikipedia.org) — the 23,826 votes, the ten-to-one margin, Malloy's statement, the great-nephew's response, the pronunciation, and the H. Baals Drive renaming.
- Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, City-County Building page, citing the Journal Gazette — the building's purchase in 2009 for $7.3 million and the $10 million remodel; the building's 1959 construction as the Wolf & Dessauer store.