As the Winamac Park Board considers whether to take ownership of the freight depot and caboose, one resident is pushing the town to take over the log cabin behind the Pulaski County Public Library, as well. The Pulaski County Historical Society offered all three structures to the town last month, in hopes the town could better utilize them.
Chris Smith, whose family played a large role in building the replica log cabin, is a member of the town’s park advisory council. During Thursday’s park board meeting, she suggested that if the town were to agree to take over the structure, Northern Indiana Power from the Past may be willing to help out. “I want to try to talk the club into doing the work and the maintenance and stuff for the Friends [of the Parks] or for the park committee,” Smith said. “And that way it would be one less thing you have to [do]. I mean, we’re the ones that put the roof on and stuff, but we just kind of would like to see – because the Historical Society just doesn’t have the workers anymore – and see if you might consider taking that on. I think all the ones that they want you to take on are a good idea. It would tie in with everything you’re doing.”
The depot and caboose sit on the land already owned by the town, making a transfer of those buildings relatively simple. However, the log cabin sits on county-owned land. While the county currently maintains the surrounding area, the town may find itself taking over that responsibility should it take ownership of the cabin.
Smith suggested going a step further, saying that Winamac’s park system would benefit not only from the addition of the log cabin, but also the surrounding land. “I mean, I wonder what use that ground is to the county,” she said. “What are they ever going to do with it? It’s a flood way. Why don’t we ask them, ‘Hey, hand it over’? They probably would, when you think about it.”
However, park board member and town manager Brad Zellers said the town’s resources are limited when it comes to taking over new properties. “If somebody else, financially, was going to be in charge of maintenance and things like that, that makes it a lot more understandable, being that the park budget isn’t getting any bigger and it has more and more to maintain every day,” he said. “You gotta be cautious of what we do take them up on.”
Park board members planned to tour the three structures and discuss the issue further, before making any decisions.
