The Winamac Park Board is ready to apply for grant funding for the town’s swimming pool rebuilding project, but it’s under some time constraints.
The park board hopes to get up to $200,000 in matching funds from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. But they only have until June 1 to get the application ready. “There are a lot of maps and plans and things of this nature that they are looking for,” Park Board President Courtney Poor said Thursday. Board member Jon Chapman added that the DNR will also be interested in the locker room facilities, which are located in the Community Wellness Center of Winamac’s building, as well as the legal arrangement between the organization and the town.
The park board decided Thursday to schedule at least one or two joint work sessions with the town council in the next couple weeks to assemble the necessary documents. Poor said he’s not sure if the work can be done in time, but it’s worth giving it a shot. “There’s one thing about it: this work has to be done anyway,” he said. “So if we want to have work sessions and try to come up with it and do the best we can, the thing is the application has to be approved by them, before you even get put in the hopper.” If Winamac misses the June 1 deadline, the town will have to wait until next year to try again, and DNR officials aren’t sure how much money will be available in the future.
Until now, park board members have been hesitant to proceed with the project, questioning whether the town can afford to maintain the pool once it’s built. However, they say they were reassured somewhat by their first joint work session with the town council last month.
Chapman now feels that the park board was appointed by the town council to get grant funding for the pool, and making sure it fits into the town’s budget is up to council members. “Personally, I feel my job is to do all I can to get a grant approved to build a pool, and I feel that the town board, if they choose to say, ‘We looked this over and want to go a different direction,’ that’s really on the town board,”Chapman said. “We’re supposed to be armed to, right now, go forward, and that’s what I want to do to try and help find the funding. I appreciate all of our financial concerns for the greater good of the community, but as of that work session, I feel like we’re all in, at this point, to apply for it.”
Meanwhile, park board members have visited Fowler and Kentland to learn how they operate their pool facilities. Still, board member Pat Bawcum remains concerned about how many people might use Winamac’s pool, noting that in her experience, usage at the old pool was low before it closed. She pointed out that if the Eastern Pulaski School Corporation were to switch to the balanced calendar adopted by other nearby schools, that would further shorten the summer swimming season.
