Efforts to grow Marshall County’s park system could get a boost from Indiana’s new regional development initiative. The READI program lets regions of counties, cities, and towns apply for up to $50 million for quality of place and talent attraction.
Marshall County Parks and Recreation Board President Greg Hildebrand says the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership is putting together its application, and he’s asking for the rehabilitation of the historic West Township Trustee Cabin to be put on the project list. “To me, I think this log cabin is a perfect example of what they’re looking for,” he told the rest of the board Thursday, “so I was going to go ahead and submit it.”
The hope is to purchase some of the West Township School property and move the 1846 cabin across the street, but that could cost as much as $200,000. As a first step, the park board plans to ask the county council for permission to spend $650 to get two appraisals on the land in question.
But Board Member Richard Markley said the park board will have to decide whether the land is still worth getting, even if the cabin move doesn’t go through. “It’s a small piece of property,” Markley noted. “The only thing I’m thinking is you’ve got the firemen’s memorial on one side of it, you’ve got the flowing well on the other side of it. You can do a memorial for West School. You could put in a small playground there or something of that nature, if [moving the cabin] is cost-prohibitive.”
Some of the board’s other ideas for READI money include a wheelchair-accessible trail at the Memorial Forest and signage to label the species of trees on the park property. The South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership continues taking suggestions on its website through July 18.
