Park News

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Trails to be added at Bluhm!

Good news for history buffs and trail users! The LaPorte County Parks Department has been awarded a $150,000 Recreational Trails grant to develop the Lincoln Memorial Trail, which will provide over 1.5 miles of new, multiple-use trails. There will be a paved and an unpaved trail running side-by side starting at Bluhm Park east side trails, continuing due east to the abandoned Monon Railroad corridor, then turning north along the corridor to County Road 300 South. A new parking area on 350 South will be ADA accessible and include park benches, picnic tables, hitching post, water fountain, bike racks, a unisex restroom, landscape plantings, trail gates and accessible parking. Appropriate signage and trail maps will also be part of the project.

Land and Water Grant for Red Mill Park

The LaPorte County Parks Department announced the award of a Federal Land
and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Grant assistance of $200,000.00 at the
March 8th meeting of the LaPorte County Park Board.  The grant project will
acquire +/- 80 additional acres to expand existing Red Mill County Park, the
former Girl Scout Camp, held by the LaPorte County Park Foundation. Project
will include rehab of an existing building into an Environmental Education
Center as well as trails development, group camping area, fishing node,
playground and restrooms.  The local share for the grant will be the donated
land value, so no local tax dollars will be expended. This project is
located off Holmesville Road, just northeast of the Purdue North Central
Campus. " This project couldn't happen without the Land and Water
Conservation Fund. There is so little money available for park acquisition
and development. Local funding has become tighter and tighter for Parks and
Recreation and it is essential to local communities to have access to other
public funding sources like the LWCF federal grant for park development,"
said Tim Morgan, LaPorte County Park Superintendent.