Photo by Brad Poreda
Improvements to W . S . Gibbs Memorial Park and the Vandalia Trail are in the works !
Hendricks County Parks & Recreation ( HCP & R ) has recently been awarded federal grants from the American Rescue Plan Act ( ARPA ) and the Land & Water Conservation Fund ( LWCF ) for two large expansion and improvement projects .
Vandalia Trail Expansion The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 11 , 2021 and is designed to assist with response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic . Hendricks County Government was awarded a substantial sum of ARPA money to distribute to its departments for a variety of projects , and in June of 2022 , the Hendricks County Council and Hendricks County Commissioners awarded HCP & R $ 990,000 for expansion of the Vandalia Trail to improve the county ’ s infrastructure .
The project will add a section of the Vandalia Trail approximately two ( 2 ) miles long from Clayton through Lambert Park and heading westward along County Road 500 S . toward Amo . This section of trail will be asphalt and mostly flat , making it ideal for running , walking , biking , wheelchairs , roller blading / skating , and strollers . Lambert Park will serve as the Clayton trailhead .
In October of 2022 , the Hendricks County Park Board awarded an engineering and design contract for this project to Align Civil Engineering Consultants out of Greencastle . Align has previously worked with HCP & R on the paving of the current 4.1 miles of the Vandalia Trail operated by the department and the implementation of trailheads in Coatesville and Amo , as well as the design of W . S . Gibbs Memorial Park .
This project is currently estimated to be completed in 2024 .
W . S . Gibbs Memorial Park Improvements In October of 2022 , HCP & R was awarded $ 608,270 from the Land & Water Conservation Fund – to be administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources – for improvements to W . S . Gibbs Memorial Park .
Every year , $ 900 million in royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf are put into the LWCF . The money is intended to protect national parks , areas around rivers and lakes , coastal areas , national forests , and national wildlife refuges from development , and to provide matching grants for state and local parks and recreation projects .
HCP & R ’ s award is a 50 / 50 matching grant that will be used for the installation of a paved ADA-accessible switchback trail to the top of the 30-foot-tall hill , a paved ADA-accessible trail around the two ponds , a modern ADA-accessible restroom , an ADA-accessible dock on the smaller pond similar to the one on the large pond , and some solar-powered security lighting in the park .
Align Civil Engineering Consultants has been contracted on this project , too .
Final completion of all of these amenities is currently estimated to occur in 2025 , although individual components will be installed beginning in 2023 .
For more information about the American Rescue Plan Act , visit www . eda . gov / arpa . For more information about the Land & Water Conservation Fund , visit www . lwcfcoalition . org .
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