Entire Big Walnut Sports Park site now belongs to city

Big Walnut Sports Park, which began as an all-volunteer effort in 1988 and has been providing Greencastle and Putnam County youth sports a valuable venue ever since, now belongs to the City of Greencastle.

The announcement that the nearly 80-acre park on the Greencastle's far East Side has been deeded over to the city was made at Tuesday night's monthly City Council session.

"The City of Greencastle is now the proud owner of a 78.8-acre sports park," Greencastle Park Director Rod Weinschenk told the Council, explaining that ownership has been assumed from the private board that had operated the park the past 25 years.

City Council President Adam Cohen, who also has served as president of the Big Walnut Sports Park Board of Directors the past 12 years, called the move "a great step forward for everybody."

"We announced the turnover of Big Walnut Sports Park to the city tonight," Cohen said following the one-hour meeting at City Hall, "and I think it's a wonderful thing."

The park offers baseball, softball and little league fields along with soccer fields, a walking trail and other recreational amenities.

Sign welcomes the public to the 78.8-acre Big Walnut Sports Park along Capital Drive off Indianapolis Road on Greencastle's East Side.

Weinschenk pointed out that although the park will be owned by the city, the various youth sports played there will continue to be operated by their respective leagues and not the Park Department.

The city has previously received donations of portions of the property to match three recent Land and Water Conservation Fund grants. Those grants have made it possible to add additional parking and lighting and will provide funding for a dog park and expanded disc golf area at Big Walnut.

Councilman Mark Hammer, whose lengthy tenure on the Council has included time as liaison to the Park Department and as advisor to the Park Board, was well aware of how valuable the Big Walnut assets have been to grant funding for the city.

"Over the years it's been transferred piecemeal anyway," Hammer noted. "Any idea of how much we've leveraged that way?"

Weinschenk estimated that figure "at almost close to $1 million."

But that ability to leverage such gifts involving portions of the sports park have now run their course, city officials indicated, meaning it is the right time for the entire site to become city property.

"We can't do another Land and Water Conservation grant for another eight years now," Cohen pointed out, "so it was definitely time to move it over."

Council President Cohen agreed with Weinschenk's assessment of the value the property has already had to the city.

"We've been able to leverage that into hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements," he said.

"Now it's going to get professional management and ensure that it's going to stay a park virtually forever."