Two companies are continuing a long-established tradition of helping the community by starting projects today.
Cummins Inc. employees are beginning a project to improve Heflen Park, Edinburgh, while Dorel Juvenile will be working on playground cleanup at CSA Lincoln Elementary School in Columbus.
Beginning this morning, more than 90 Cummins employees will be working in shifts for up to three weeks at Heflen Park, off County Road 700N, Bartholomew County Park Board president Dennis Pierce said.
Cummins workers will begin pulling up rotting boards today before replacing a 400-foot boardwalk at a pond in the back of the park, Pierce said.
The Heflen Park boardwalk has been a popular fishing spot, and special events including weddings have occurred there, Pierce said. But after 20 years, the boardwalk has deteriorated to the point it had to be closed.
If the county were to hire a professional firm to replace the Heflen Park boardwalk, the cost would run as high as $50,000, Pierce said.
Considering that the park board has only been budgeted $187,931 this year to care for all 12 park properties, such an undertaking would be cost-prohibitive, he said.
With the volunteer efforts from Cummins, the park board was able to limit its expense to $8,000 to purchase materials including lumber, screws and concrete, Pierce said.
The 35-acre park is one of the more popular county facilities and its most profitable, largely due to the growing popularity of its camping facilities.
Also beginning today, dozens of Dorel volunteers will work to beautify the CSA Lincoln playground, said Erin Yarbrough, Dorel’s Safety 1st global brand manager.
From 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. today, workers will power wash the equipment surface areas, as well as plant new trees and fresh flowers at the campus at 750 Fifth St., Yarbrough said.
This project is part of a campaign called Strolling for a Better America that was launched last May by Dorel Industries, Inc., she said.
Renovations of the Lincoln playground over the summer have been part of an $500,000 community effort known as the Linden Project.
When architect Gunnar Birkerts designed the school in 1966, his original concept called for the extensive use of Linden trees in the landscape. However, that part of Birkerts’ plan was discarded by the time the building opened the following year.
Playground renovations include swings that allow children to socialize with one other, a large wooden climbing structure modeled to look like a globe, outdoor classrooms, benches and a butterfly garden.
CSA Lincoln was able to secure $267,000 in grants and public and private donations in nine months, said Jess Schnepp, fundraising coordinator of the Linden Project. Additional funding was provided by the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
