WINONA LAKE – Thanks to local businesses, the largest piece of new playground equipment for Winona Lake Park was delivered Thursday morning at no cost to the town.
“The coolest thing about this whole thing is Metzger Trucking went down to Alabama to get it and stored it at their place,” Street Superintendent Tom Miller said as the playground equipment was being unloaded from the semi tractor-trailer at the park.
Ken Nisly, from Winona Restorations LLC, unloaded the three large crates and three big pallets from the semi, also at no charge to the town.
Winona Lake Limitless Park Director Holly Hummitch said the new play structure will replace the big, tan structure currently up at the park.
The Parks Department was able to take advantage of a grant through Gametime for the structure, so it got 50 percent off of the cost. “We were able to purchase it at a discounted price,” she said.
Before the structure goes up, the land at the park has to be prepped. Hummitch said the Parks Department is planning a community build in the spring for the structure, which would save the Parks Department on costs associated with having it installed.
At the November Winona Lake Town Council meeting, Hummitch requested $6,726.96 from the Casino & Riverboat Fund to help pay for the cost of the equipment. Originally, the Parks Department also needed funds to pay for freight but Metzger Trucking donated that, saving the Parks about $5,000.
The original cost of the piece of equipment was $113,274, but the Gametime grant reduced the cost to $56,637. Three grants also helped pay for the equipment, so with its fund balance the Parks needed less than $7,000 to pay for the structure. The council gave $10,000.
(Story By The Times Union)
