Accessibility for people of all physical abilities took a big step forward this fall .
With significant funding assistance from a federal Land & Water Conservation Fund grant , we continue to develop W . S . Gibbs Memorial Park with an emphasis on safety and accessibility . To this end , we teamed up with Align Civil Engineering Consultants out of Greencastle and J . S . McCullough Excavating out of Coatesville to design and construct an ADA-accessible concrete switchback trail to the top of the 30-foot-tall observation and sledding hill .
After completion of the switchback trail , all or parts of Turtle Crawl , Monarch Way , Heron Hideaway , and Forebay Crossing were paved , resulting in an asphalt loop of about 0.56 miles around both ponds and a total of about 0.70 miles of paved trail .
Now all of our park guests , regardless of physical ability levels , can go from our paved parking lot in the middle of the park , around both ponds , access both ADAaccessible docks , and reach the top of the hill without encountering anything but smooth asphalt or concrete .
Additionally , if guests need some mobility assistance to enjoy the crushed stone trails throughout the park , we have a GRIT Freedom Chair on site that is free to borrow and enjoy ( see page 22 ).
In the first stage of this project , we installed solar-powered security lights in the park and the ADA-accessible dock on the smaller pond . The second stage was the installation of these ADA-accessible trails . The third and final stage of the project is coming in 2025 . What is it ?
Modern ADA-accessible restrooms .
Stay tuned to HendricksCountyParks . org and our Facebook page for more information as it becomes available !
Photo by Brad Poreda
Winter / Spring 2025 • 21