Efforts to add a memorial splash pad in Winamac have gotten a major funding boost. The Community Foundation of Pulaski County has agreed to let the almost $150,000 raised for the canceled swimming pool project be used for the splash pad instead.
Executive Director Wendy Rose told the town council Monday that the foundation board believes the project comes closest to the original goal of addressing the health, safety, and recreational needs of children and the rest of the community. “So on behalf of the community foundation board, I am pleased [to present the town] with a check for $139,145 to support the splash pad project,” she said.
That money is expected to help fund the installation of restrooms, benches, sidewalks, parking spaces, and other landscaping features. The splash pad itself is being donated in memory of Owen Abbott, a Winamac Middle School student who was killed in a school bus accident in Marshall County in 2018.
The other $10,000 that had been set aside for the canceled pool’s maintenance will remain in a permanent fund at the community foundation, but redirected for splash pad maintenance. The $150,000 the town had pledged toward the pool was used to prepare the future splash pad site along Logan Street, including the demolition of an abandoned grain elevator.
Town Manager Brad Zellers reported Monday that the project is moving forward pretty quickly. “I’m hoping, this week, we’ll have the permit for the splash pad,” Zellers said. “We didn’t get it last week, so I think it’ll be this week. We’re going to be working on getting that shelter done. They’re getting the ground leveled out this week, I know. It’s got some really high spots, so we’ll get that leveled out.”
Meanwhile, Electric Superintendent Doug Shorter said lighting has been ordered, and the conduit has been installed.
