Potential changes to Riverside Park considered during grant application

Yahoo

25-05-2025

Scrolling through renderings, Logansport Parks Administrator Janet Fawley showed off what could be a future Riverside Park.
A colorful new playground — likely with some thematic link to Logansport's rivers, railroad history or the Dentzel Carousel — would welcome children. A new stage flanked by a large recreational field and a smaller greenspace would host concerts in the park. Three circular piers would let the park's visitors get up close to the Eel River.
Among the key points in the proposed changes were the playground and the installation of a roundabout near the McHale Complex's entrance so people with mobility issues can have better access to the facility.
'I think it'll be really important for this community, for this park, to have that big, iconic playground,' Fawley said, noting continued growth along the riverfront. 'That's really the feature, I think. If we don't do anything else, that's the thing that we really need to do.'
The proposed changes come with a more than $2.5 million price tag. Fawley plans to submit them to the Department of Natural Resources in an application for the Land & Water Conservation Fund grant, which would cover up to $1 million. The grant must be matched by local funding, so she would also ask the City of Logansport and its Redevelopment Commission for $500,000 each.
The grant application is due Aug. 1, so Fawley would need to know whether local entities are up to funding the changes soon. She explained the plans could also be trimmed to make the proposal cheaper.
Fawley said the DNR would likely take a year or so to review the grant application. If they accept it, the application would move on to the National Park Service.