Funding for new bandshell in hand, June 1 finish seen

With more than $100,000 already committed to the effort to build a new bandshell at Robe-Ann Park in Greencastle, attention can now turn to the aesthetics involved in the project.

The Greencastle Board of Park Commissioners Monday heard a progress report from Jessica Hartman, president of the Friends of the Park group which is spearheading the bandshell project that has received major donations from such groups as the Greencastle Civic League and the Putnam County Convention and Visitor Bureau and a $50,000 grant from the Indiana Office of Tourism Development and Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

The schedule calls for groundbreaking in the spring, Hartman said, noting that the four corners of the new bandshell are currently staked out at Robe-Ann Park. The new location will be up the hill and to the north of the previous site.

By starting construction next spring, Park Director Rod Weinschenk interjected, the project would hopefully by completed by June 1, 2018 and the beginning of the annual Parkfest concert series sponsored by the Civic League.

That’s important, Weinschenk said, “because 2018 will be 25 years that the Civic League has been sponsoring it.”

“We’re hoping the new bandshell can give the Fourth of July activities a shot in the arm as well,” Weinschenk told the board.

While the new bandshell has been modeled after a facility in the Chicago suburb of Barrington, there has been some modification to a design that features limestone pillars halfway up each of the four corner supports.

The concept now includes a more open look with a limestone rear wall and the roof of the bandshell extending over that to keep the rain from impacting the stone.

The Barrington bandshell, Hartman said, “reminded us of a covered bridge, so we took that and ran with it.”

A front riser provides “more of a stage feel,” she said, while other aesthetic details are still being worked on.

The latest configuration has open sides to allow greater visibility of the performance area, which will be valuable during possible play productions at the bandshell.

“It’s not just a bandshell,” Weinschenk suggested. “In its down time, it will also be used as a park shelterhouse as well as staging plays of some sort.”

The park director ended the discussion by asking the board if the project is “on the right track.”

Board members agreed it was.

“If it is,” he added, “hopefully at the October meeting we can bring back another concept for you to look at.”

Meanwhile, Hartman also announced that the annual meeting of the Friends of the Park is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25 in the upper meeting room at the Greencastle Starbucks.

In other business during its September meeting, the Park Board approved a two-year $3,900 contract with Rec Desk to set up online registration services for the programs of the Greencastle Park and Recreation Department. Approval is pending City Attorney Laurie Hardwick’s final review of the contract.

The goal is to have the online registration service up and running by Oct. 1 to facilitate Youth Basketball League registration.

Ultimately Rec Desk will be able to register persons for any program the park offers, as well as provide an outlet for the purchase of summer swim passes and more.

“It’s a great idea,” board member Tim Trigg said after a unanimous vote in favor of the system. “It’s about time.”

Weinschenk said that the around-the-clock availability of online registration “in essence is like providing another fulltime person working 24/7.”

The Park Board also unanimously approved a $23,500 contract with HWC (Hannum Wagle and Cline) Engineering to do a professional master plan focusing on two specific parks, Robe-Ann and the Ballard Family Park. The latter is to be developed south of State Road 240, just east of the Walmart store where the Ballard family has donated property.

The HWC contract is also pending final review by the city attorney.

In other business, the Park Board:

-- Approved the hiring of Taylor Webster, an Ivy Tech student and North Putnam graduate, as a new second fulltime park maintenance employee. After working at the pool this summer, she had been working part-time mowing and weed-eating for the department.

-- Heard Weinschenk report that a sewer line at Big Walnut Sports Park was clogged and damaged by vandals who apparently flushed chunks of limestone, rocks and even several pairs of underwear that came to rest in the line near the lift station. Work to repair the line included a $1,620 bill from Joe Spiker Excavating and additional work by Steve Baker, which has not yet been billed.

-- Heard Weinschenk also reported that the men’s bathroom at Robe-Ann Park was vandalized with some of the parts used to turn on faucets removed and taken. Those faucets have now been replaced by the kind that turns the water on when you place your hands beneath it.

Weinschenk and Trigg were joined for the September meeting, which was postponed from Sept. 7 by lack of a quorum, by board members Beva Miller, John Hennette and Cathy Merrell, also with ex-officio member Wayne Lewis, City Council park liaison Steve Fields and Mayor Bill Dory.

The next regular session of the Greencastle Park Board is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5 at City Hall.