Administrators at Vanderburgh County’s Burdette Park will move forward with improvements and upgrades following a recent County Council vote.
The Vanderburgh County Council has approved spending $904,980 on the county’s only park using American Recue Plan funds.
Highlights include two new playgrounds and resurfaced tennis and pickleball courts.
Burdette Park Director Zach Wathan said they should be able to break ground within the month. “I would be thrilled to have a playground in the campground by Fourth of July.”
He said the court resurfacing could be started by Memorial Day.
“So right now, we're starting the process of gathering, you know, companies making contacts, you know, when you spend meetings to make sure we're following all the rules.”
One playground will be going over a former putt-putt course, said County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave.
“So this is real adaptive reuse, that represents also a considerable upgrade for the playground equipment,” she said. That playground could be done by Thanksgiving.
Musgrave said the council and commission are committed to maintaining the community equipment — and upgrading when possible.
She said they’re moving forward with the architectural and engineering part of the tennis courts and pickleball courts. She said the previous courts were cracked possibly to water damage, which needs to be prevented with new court resurfacing.
The piping of the rivulet or creek that runs where the new playground is going is underway.
“It's a joint project with the highway department,” she said. “So we're saving a considerable amount of money by working with the highway department to do that.”
The new dog park is not currently funded. Wathan said this will eventually be handled by grants and donations.
The current plan is for a $75,000 park, which contains several features which may not be part of the final design.