West College Corner seeks playground donations

May 18, 2022 at 8:30 p.m.
West College Corner seeks playground donations
West College Corner seeks playground donations

By Randulf Teufel-

West College Corner is seeking funding to bring new life to The Grove park with a grant application to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and a crowdfunding campaign.

West College Corner is planning a $203,000 refresh of The Grove, including demolition of the existing structure, excavation and site preparation and new equipment from Play & Park Structures of Chattanooga. The town has allocated $30,000 toward demolition and excavation. 

Union County special projects coordinator Olivia Chewning has been working to secure a grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) to help offset some of the costs. The grant program would provide $50,000 to the park refresh, but it requires a local, equal match of $50,000. The demolition and excavation expenses are not covered in the grant program, so the town's contribution will not count toward the match. 

To cover the local match to the grant, Chewning has been busy seeking funding from local organizations and businesses and is working on establishing a crowdfunding campaign. A total of $23,600 has already been raised with generous donations from the Union County Foundation Community Impact Fund, College Corner Community Club, West College Corner Volunteer Fire Department, Whitewater Valley REMC, Bath State Bank and others. In order to receive the $50,000 grant from IHCDA, the community must raise  a minimum of $26,400, although more money will be needed to build the full project estimate. Without a full $50,000 local match, the entire IHCDA grant will be forfeited.

A crowdfunding campaign is being organized with Patronicity which will be kicked off next month with a launch party at The Grove on Friday, June 10 at 6:30 p.m. Chewning continues seeking other sources of grant funding, including an application to the Lilly Scholars Lead Forward Grant with the help of Union County's 2010 Lilly Scholarship recipient Michael Rogers.

West College Corner is seeking funding to bring new life to The Grove park with a grant application to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and a crowdfunding campaign.

West College Corner is planning a $203,000 refresh of The Grove, including demolition of the existing structure, excavation and site preparation and new equipment from Play & Park Structures of Chattanooga. The town has allocated $30,000 toward demolition and excavation. 

Union County special projects coordinator Olivia Chewning has been working to secure a grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) to help offset some of the costs. The grant program would provide $50,000 to the park refresh, but it requires a local, equal match of $50,000. The demolition and excavation expenses are not covered in the grant program, so the town's contribution will not count toward the match. 

To cover the local match to the grant, Chewning has been busy seeking funding from local organizations and businesses and is working on establishing a crowdfunding campaign. A total of $23,600 has already been raised with generous donations from the Union County Foundation Community Impact Fund, College Corner Community Club, West College Corner Volunteer Fire Department, Whitewater Valley REMC, Bath State Bank and others. In order to receive the $50,000 grant from IHCDA, the community must raise  a minimum of $26,400, although more money will be needed to build the full project estimate. Without a full $50,000 local match, the entire IHCDA grant will be forfeited.

A crowdfunding campaign is being organized with Patronicity which will be kicked off next month with a launch party at The Grove on Friday, June 10 at 6:30 p.m. Chewning continues seeking other sources of grant funding, including an application to the Lilly Scholars Lead Forward Grant with the help of Union County's 2010 Lilly Scholarship recipient Michael Rogers.

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