Culver officials showed off some upgrades to the Town Park, during a visit by Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch Thursday. They’re part of the town’s Stellar Community designation, a program the lieutenant governor oversees.
Town Manager Jonathan Leist took Crouch on a tour of two of the Stellar Plan’s complimentary projects that are currently underway in the park. “One of our complimentary projects was Marshall County Highway Department actually helped us pave a portion of the trail,” he explained, “so six-tenths of a mile of trail has already been completed.”
He said the overall goal is to have a walking and biking trail all the way around Lake Maxinkuckee. The Stellar program will help with the first couple miles.
Leist also showed the lieutenant governor the new Damore Amphitheater. “That was just – well, we haven’t cut a ribbon on it yet. It’s July 12 that we’ll actually do the ribbon cutting,” he told Crouch. “But it’s finished. We can take a look at that.”
Crouch said the projects help Culver build on its existing assets, like the lake and Culver Academies. “It has an artistic feel to it, the community does,” she said. “And so my goal would be . . . that they can untap that potential that they have, to really take Culver to the next level for their community, through housing and through quality of place and through their place making, and capitalize on the assets, but capitalize on the people that are here.”
Crouch complimented Culver for starting work on projects before it was even officially designated a Stellar Community. She also said she was impressed by the town’s “collaborative nature and personality.” “Governor Holcomb and I believe that our next great economic development frontier is rural Indiana,” Crouch said. “And we know that in order for rural Indiana to compete, it has to have the same kind of services and the same kind of quality of life as our more urban centers, and in order for that to happen, we need to be able to promote and encourage collaboration among our communities.”
In addition to the Town Park, Crouch also visited the Sand Hill Farms workforce housing development that’s currently under construction. Numerous town officials and other partners in the town’s Stellar projects joined in the tour.
