More people are visiting the Indiana Dunes State Park in Porter County, a lot more says Dunes Park property manager Brandt Baughman.

During a slideshow presentation given at the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission board meeting on Tuesday, Baughman said Dunes Park is the second most visited park in the state which saw a record of more than one million visitors last year, only trailing behind Brown County State Park which saw 1.3 million people.

PCCRVC Executive Director Lorelei Weimer said the faltering economy is actually one of the reasons for the record numbers. Despite the tough times, she said people still want to travel and are finding parks and local destinations more convenient for their budget.

She said that nationwide, state and national parks had increased attendance last year because admission prices remained lower while major theme park attractions raised theirs. Weimer also said she found last year’s record interesting because the summer had been unseasonably cool.

“That just tells you how powerful the dunes are,” she said.

Baughman reported the park was 126 percent self-sufficient during the 2009 record season, comparable to 2005 when the park was only 68 percent self-sufficient. Out-of-state visitors are charged $10 at the gate while Indiana residents are charged around $7.

The park has made considerable upgrades in the last five years including a new entranceway, a boardwalk, gatehouses, and renovated campgrounds.

The park also has done away with 900 parking spaces since 2005, he said, which actually can be a benefit because with a limit on how many vehicles can enter the park in a day, more visitors will drop in during the week instead of all arriving on the weekend. Being able to balance the crowd will lessen harmful impacts on the environment, Baughman said.

Sixty percent of the revenue generated by the park comes from folks out-of-state, said Baughman, and peaks to 90 percent during the Fourth of July weekend. The campgrounds are also at 100 percent occupancy from June to August, a rate that even Turkey Run State Park does not touch.

Baughman said Dunes Park is unique to all the rest of the state parks in Indiana. Natural and industrial areas co-exist and the park can be accessed through public transportation on the South Shore Line. It is also the only state park with a guarded beach.

Although the Dunes Park has no marketing budget, the park has managed to catch the eye of Hollywood. Baughman said the 2009 film Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp used the location for filming. The site has also been used for two MTV documentaries and been featured in an episode of TV’s America’s Next Top Model.

A recent article about the growing popularity of the dunes was picked up by The Associated Press and was featured this week in USA Today. Baughman said he wants to make further use of press releases to attract other forms of media.

Continuing with future enhancements, upgrades are planned to bring the iconic pavilion back to its historical condition, including plans to open a year-round restaurant and banquet space similar to what the building had in the 1950s. Also in talks is adding new interpretive displays at the nature center which have not been updated in 20 years and possibly adding a bike trail.

The PCCRVC board and staff responded positively to Baughman’s presentation and the “forward thinking” he displayed.

Baughman said he has not been successful in the past getting national park grants for proposed projects because he has had “little to bring to the table other than inertia.” PCCRVC Board President Jeff Good he believes the new initiatives might make a stronger impression on grant givers.

“I think we have more of a story to tell,” said Good.

Baughman mentioned the park has received the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence, the Chicago Wilderness/EPA Conservation and Native Landscaping Award, and the American Association of Conservation Engineers Award. Plans are already in the works for the park’s centennial anniversary celebration in 2016.

Sitting in on the meeting, Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez commented she would like to see the board and tourism commission continue their focus on promoting attractions throughout Porter County like the dunes and other attractions to the south. She referred to a situation last year where there was talk to reorganize the county tourism bureau and instead encouraged the board to continue in the direction of promoting local interests.

“I hope my visit brings discussion. I think this tourism effort needs to continue,” said Mayor Velazquez.

Velazquez also mentioned she would like to see more family-oriented attractions be advertised, such as hotels in the area where children can stay free.

Weimer said the tourism commission is promoting “staycations” to give people a stronger appreciation about their own communities. Residents can become “ambassadors” for the county by taking visiting friends and relatives to parks, restaurants and theaters in Porter County without having to travel to bigger cities like Chicago, Weimer said.

In another effort to revisit values, Good told board members he plans for future meetings to feature presentations that will reeducate them on the role and mission of the PCCRVC board as they begin these new initiatives such as the Beyond the Beach trail and the website that is to be released later this summer.

“We need to try to understand the relationships we have, such as how we can work with state and national programs,” Good said.

Posted 4/22/2010