It’s the pricetag,
not the project, that has the Chesterton Town Council investigating its
options, said member Sharon Darnell.
She was responding
to a question by Chesterton Park Board member Mark Dickinson, who asked at
Tuesday’s park meeting about the status of a proposed restroom structure in
Thomas Park.
Darnell said the
architect’s estimate came back at approximately $240,000 so the restroom
never was put out for bid. “There’s no shape, way or form we can come up
with that kind of money with the state cutbacks the last few years,” she
explained.
The restroom as
originally planned would be a no-maintenance, handicapped-accessible masonry
building with optional decorative exterior columns. Efforts are being made
to find the needed funds, or scale back the design yet keep the building
resistant to vandalism.
The project’s not
off the council’s radar and hasn’t been forgotten, assured Darnell, who is
liaison to the Park Department. Town manager Bernie Doyle is looking for
alternate funding sources, she explained, because when the state makes
budget cuts it usually orders money be deducted from the Park and Street
Department budgets first.
Also Tuesday, park
superintendent Bruce Mathias said he is awaiting delivery of new boards that
were ordered to redeck two bridges over the Prairie Duneland Trail. The
lumber had to be engineered due to the weight demand.
He and Park Board
members complimented the job done by project leader Roy Flaherty and his
Saturday work crew in rehabbing roofs in town parks. Bill Ford also donated
two days time to work on roof and fascia. More roof work is planned at
Dogwood Park.
Mathias also said
two softball fields have gone from red clay to lime rock infields and base
paths, and a bench has been installed at Coffee Creek Park.
On member John
Kroft’s motion the board voted unanimously to allow Frontline Foundations to
erect a suitably sized banner on the Thomas Park gazebo Aug. 29 through
Sept. 29 promoting its upcoming event. The size is a reduction from
Frontline’s originally requested banner.
Park Board
president Vince Emanuel said Mathias and his staff “are doing a heck of a
job in the parks with all this rain.” He also said the new green roof on a
Chesterton Park shelter looks great.