The Culver Beach Lodge is getting a few repairs and minor upgrades.
On Tuesday, the town council approved a $10,200 bid from Zehner Excavating to fix some water issues in the basement. Town Manager Jonathan Leist says Utilities Superintendent Bob Porter has made a list of the necessary upgrades. “Installing new tile, sealing the walls where it’s underground on the east and west sides of the building, moving drains that currently release water about midway on those sides of the building, and taking those both all the way down. One will go, actually, all the way to the lake, and the other side, it’ll only go to the sidewalk,” Leist explained. “But it’ll get it all out away from the building.”
Meanwhile, Park Superintendent Anna Campbell says town employees are fixing the ceilings and making some other improvements in the building. “A lot of the old cabinetry has been removed because there were mice and they were falling apart in the concession area,” she said. “So there’s just a lot of gross things going on. Those are gone.”
She adds that several old light fixtures have been replaced. “A lot of the ones in the lower beach level, the whole fixture was just dying or they didn’t give any light,” she said. “So for about $800 in materials, in all of the main space, fluorescent lights have been installed, and it’s a huge difference.”
On top of that, new vinyl flooring is set to be installed next month. In the long term, Culver officials hope to get grant funding for a large-scale renovation of the Beach Lodge.
At the same time, funding arrangements are underway for an amphitheater in the town park. The town has applied for a grant from the Marshall County Community Foundation. The town council also authorized Leist to apply for a “crowd granting” program through the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority. “You do some online fund raising locally, and the state matches it dollar-for-dollar,” he explained. That lets the town get up to $50,000 in state matching funds. Leist hopes to apply for the grant around March 1, followed by a 90-day fund-raising period.
