Organizers of a pollinator park planned for the east side of Columbus, where flooding destroyed 48 homes a decade ago, will ramp up fundraising efforts early next year.
Plans for the 2.49-acre park in the Pleasant Grove area, near the Cummins Technical Center between McKinley Avenue and Fifth Street, were approved by the city in September. However, state and federal agencies must also approve the pollinator park plan before work can begin.
Plans for the park call for development of a walking path and providing native plants to attract birds, bees and butterflies, in addition to a memorial marking the 2008 Columbus flood. The city purchased the flood-damaged homes — where the city’s worst damage occurred — through a federally funded buyout program to clear the site for parkland.
“We want this to be the premier park for the east side of Columbus,” said Eric Riddle, a project champion and author of “Watershed: Service in the Wake of Disaster,” which focused on the local flood.
Fundraising efforts will build on $16,000 that has already come in from individuals and businesses, he said.
Funding will be pursued through a Creating Places grant provided by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, which would provide up to a $50,000 match in donations. A separate grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources will also be pursued, Riddle said.
A fund for the proposed pollinator park has been established locally by the Columbus Park Foundation, Riddle said. Officials will also work to raise awareness through public events, he said.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
