The Winamac Park Board will likely contribute financially to the Memorial Swinging Bridge Project, but how much and where that money would come from still remain to be seen.
The project would add decorative industrial LED solar lights to the Town Park’s “swinging bridge” in time for its centennial in 2023. Project committee member Kathi Thompson told the park board Thursday that the group is approaching $80,000 in donations and pledges, but a donation from the park board would be a great help.
“The reason we’re doing this is to let veterans know that there is a memorial in this town just for them,” Thompson said. “They don’t even know. Veterans are not even aware, most of them, that there is a memorial built to their honor.”
Park Board President Chris Schramm noted that many community members have donated, and he felt it was time for the park board to chip in. “It’s a town park project, this lighting of the bridge,” Schramm said. “I’m in favor of it. We just have to come up with an amount, or if you guys think differently, I would like to hear that. But I think we need to be invested in this.”
But Board Member Brad Zellers pointed out that the town is already taking care of the cost of repainting the bridge, which is expected to be about $150,000. “We’ve got to figure out where that’s coming from first because we’ve got about five places we’re going to have to try to pull from to even come up with that,” Zellers said.
No board members were opposed to donating to the lighting effort, but they wanted to figure out how much money was available in their various funds before committing a specific dollar amount.
Project organizer Greg Henry felt the rededicated bridge will tie in well with other improvements taking place around the park. “I think when all of this comes together, there’s going to be a lot of people coming to Winamac just to see and enjoy our park, our bridge, our hill,” Henry told the park board. “Everything about the park is really coming together. I can only be a plus for the whole town as far as restaurants and businesses that are inclined to work with this type of thing. They’ll make money off of this, too.”
Also during Thursday’s meeting, Park Board President Chris Schramm announced that the next Movie in the Park is scheduled for tomorrow evening at sunset. He said the last movie had a good turnout.
