Yesterday was a wonderful day for the ribbon cutting ceremony for Lancaster Park and phase two of the interurban trail. Momentum and support for these projects soared in our community thanks to the Land Water Conservation Fund grant opportunities and the Next Level Trails Initiative. Overall, $2,156,000.00 in value was added to our community as local donors joined in the excitement to invest in high-quality recreational trails and facilities that will benefit Bluffton for generations to come.
Amenities from the LWCF grant include a half-mile walking trail with benches, a pavilion with restrooms, a water fountain, a dual-use football/soccer field, a playground, a Gaga ball pit, two sand volleyball courts, two cornhole games, a giant foosball court, a solar charging station, a fire pit, a bike repair station and a new parking lot.
Additional features of this park include a dual-use 9-hole disc golf/foot golf course, which was made possible by a grant from the Wells County Foundation.
Walmart kindly donated a heavy-duty bike air pump, and the Optimist Club purchased a Buddy Bench for the playground.
We were very excited about the top-of-the-line, lighted, six-goal basketball court named the Dick and Dave Troxel Basketball Court. We give special thanks to Patti Troxel, who is honoring the memory of her husband, Dick Troxel, and to Dave and Kris Troxel for their generous donation that made these courts possible.
The set of three dedicated Pickleball courts has been used daily the second the paint dried, thanks to Chip and Kim Mann and Diane Humphrey, who is honoring the memory of her father, E.J. Schaefer.
None of this would have been possible without Northern Wells Community School, which, since 2006, has leased this space to our department until we could take ownership, leveraging the land’s value towards our portion of the LWCF match.
We are immensely grateful to the Caylor Nickel Foundation for being a major contributor and to the following businesses and families who made sizeable donations to this project. They include Indiana Physical Therapy, Andy and Ginny Vogel, National Oil & Gas, Greg and Rachel Roembke and family, and Roger and Marge Thornton and family.
We also want to recognize the following for their financial contributions to the park. Dr. George and Jan Babcock, Richard and Marilyn Kleinknight, Robert and Ann Meyer, Jeff and Linda McAfee, Blair and Deborah Brown, Danny and Rose Ann Bebout, Mark and Barbara Gerber, and Rick King with the Sandy Koufax baseball league.
ERI designed the park, thanks to efforts from Ethan Yoder and Mark Reinhard. James S. Jackson’s Company Scott Krill and Conor Jackson were the CMAs who also donated their time to install the giant Foosball court. Lori Shipman, our grant writer for both projects, was tremendously helpful in navigating all the document requirements, and Erica Gummere was great at guiding us through the grant process.
The hard working crews that performed the physical labor for this park include Brooks Construction, Coblentz Construction, Frauhiger Excavating, Wayne Asphalt and Mid States Recreation. Outdoor Concepts volunteered to plant 10 new trees and donated two more. All of the city departments stepped up to help by installing equipment and connecting utilities. Their hard work saved us tens of thousands of dollars.
We’re grateful to Governor Eric Holcomb for supporting our quality-of-life goals to connect the beautiful Rivergreenway to Lancaster Park through Bluffton’s historic downtown.
We want to thank Erika Siebenthal at the DNR for helping with the grant process. Jocelyn Connelley did a great job leading the Brooks Construction team and Bunn Excavating to develop the final mile of the trail to the park.
Walking trails are by far the most used park amenities, and we are very grateful to Mayor John Whicker and the City Council, who got the ball rolling by hiring Engineering Resources to design the trail. Mark Reinhard and Adam Grabill did an amazing job developing the trail’s layout.
Major donors include the Wells County Foundation and the Caylor-Nickel The Wells County Foundation, Inc.
Donors: Everwise Credit Union; Steve and Yvette Huggins; Dave and Kris Troxel; and Patti Troxel
Contributors: Robert Troxel Premier Truck Rental; First Bank of Berne; Wells County Trails; Adams Wells Internet Telecom TV; Honegger, Ringger & Company Inc; Bluffton Animal Clinic; Family Ford of Bluffton; General Manufacturing; Coldwell Banker Holloway; Moose Lodge Bluffton 242; Brad and Molly Hoag; Gerald and Diann Tonner; and James and Audrey Almdale.
Land easement donors include Lowe’s Home Center, S & G Rentals – Outdoor Concepts, Bluffton Acres, Mick Cupp, Jerry and Jane Case, Thomas and Margaret Antrim, Philip and Alice Grogg, iTown Church and INDOT.
This project has been a long journey and wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our community amazing grant opportunities, and generous donors and landowners, so from the bottom of our hearts, the Park Board and I thank you.
Have a great week!
