Educator Guides Positive New Steps for Bartholomew County Parks
An Enhancing the Value of Public Spaces Workshop was held last week with Bartholomew County’s Anderson Falls Park as the focus. Although it features a stunning waterfall and a 44-acre DNR Nature Preserve, Anderson Falls Park suffers from the challenges of an isolated location and a limited general fund budget. Seventeen interested community leaders and residents put their heads together in the workshop to “dream big” about the future of the park. They will meet again next month to work on a high-quality action plan for the priorities identified by the end of the workshop. The team consists of Kara Salazar, Dan Walker, Steve Yoder, and Kris Medic.
Bartholomew County Parks now have a tax-deductible gift fund managed by Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, which has already received its first donations. Bartholomew County ANR and Community Development Educator Kris Medic worked for most of this year making connections and helping to negotiate the details of the fiduciary agreement. Columbus’ city parks have had a foundation since the mid-1980’s, which makes great things happen that can’t be funded publicly. With Kris’ help, the County Parks are looking at one park with fresh eyes, and anticipating the impact of a new revenue stream for projects.
