Wreck History

"What can we create that would give teenagers
something positive to do with their spare time?"
was the question. The result…they began looking
around for vacant buildings to create a coffeehouse,
recreation center, and concert arena.

Super Bowl Sunday, the last Sunday in January 1999,
these young men with a dream came across The Old
Levin Scrap Yard! Oh, how wrecked up it was! Who
owns it?   What are they going to do with it? How
can we convince them to buy into our dream?

The scrap yard, which belonged to the Levin family for years, had been acquired by Omni Source Corporation in Ft. Wayne. Omni Source had recently donated the land and buildings to a local church, which was going to develop it, or sell it. The teens went to the pastor of the church who held title to the land. (He was on his couch watching the Super bowl like the rest of America.)   We told him, "YOU'VE GOT PLANS, BUT WE HAVE A BETTER IDEA!"



A couple of leadership meetings at the church
produced the desired outcome. "YOU BOYS CAN USE THE LAND" came the reply. And use it we would. We immediately went to work. 50 or more teens showed up at workdays daily, in the snow, after school and on weekends.   Many dump trucks left the property filled with years of accumulated junk and debris. A former community eyesore was transforming into a coffee house and safe teen hangout.

Before long the back loading dock area was transformed
into a concert arena.

Local businesses and individuals began to catch the vision
and jump on board.   Tom Rossmanith, the Youth For
Christ East Noble director became the program leader and
set up the first event: THE INCREDIBLE BAND BATTLE.
The concert was held on May 28th, 1999 to a crowd of over
500 teenagers! Wow!! The dream was coming true.

The organization has a name.... THE WRECK

We picked the name because it was a play on RECREATION and the fact that the buildings and land was A WRECK.