Harry Baals, whose name is pronounced like Hairy Balls, was the mayor of Fort Wayne from 1934–1947 and from 1951-1954.

In 2010, the city government prepared to open a new city office building downtown, and citizens were asked to suggest names for the complex. A local blogger suggested that people vote to name it the "Harry Baals Government Center", and the name received the highest number of votes.

The results made national news, and made Fort Wayne the butt of jokes on late-night comedy shows.

Mayor Tom Henry quickly crushed any possibility of the new building being named for Mayor Baals, so supporters of the name had "I Love Harry Baals" t-shirts made up so that citizens could show their support for honoring the former mayor with the suggestive name!

The cigar store Indian that stands on the sidewalk in front of Riegels Pipe and Tobacco Shop on Calhoun Street has been wearing one of them for a few months now. The store is across the street from the City-County Building, where Mayor Henry's office and the meeting hall of the City Council was located prior to moving to the new building. The new building was named "Citizen's Square."

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by Christopher Crawford

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