Volunteers Help Rotary Park Near Completion Brick By Brick
July 17, 2019 at 1:51 a.m.
Volunteers Help Rotary Park Near Completion Brick By Brick
By David [email protected]
The six or seven workers had about 350 square feet of brick to put down, with 80 of those bricks engraved, city Senior Planner Justin Taylor estimated. More volunteers were expected Tuesday afternoon.
The park is at the intersection of West Center and West Market streets, Warsaw.
The Warsaw Rotary Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and creating the park was one way the club wanted to recognize the milestone. The official groundbreaking ceremony on the trailhead park was held in September.
Ken Locke, Rotary Club, said “This is our way of kind of celebrating that whole thing. Service is what Rotary is all about. We always wanted a Rotary park in this community, and this has worked out perfectly. Then with the wheels and everything that look like the Rotary symbol, it just all kind of came together. We really appreciate the community’s support, too.”
He was helping to lay the bricks around the cog. He said he’s laid bricks before, but “never like this.” Chris Harrison, Indiana American Water (IAW), said Locke was doing a “heck of a job.”
“You’ve got to learn something new every day, so this is my learning experience today,” Locke said.
“When you do volunteer work, you learn everything,” Harrison said.
Taylor said the volunteers, including himself, had minimal experience in brick laying, but with their skills combined were figuring it out.
He said the hope is that the park will be finished by this fall. Weather permitting, concrete work would be completed over the next few weeks, and volunteers from Master Gardners were planning to aid with the landscaping.
“We’re really excited about it,” Taylor said.
The cog was donated by Lewis Salvage. The monument honors the industrial heritage of the city.
Before the park was a consideration, the lot at that intersection was just gravel and weeds. Taylor said it was turned into a “pocket’?park in hopes that people would change their minds about where green space can go and what can be done with it. The park also is along the walk/bike trail.
Locke said he had driven by the lot hundreds of times and never thought of a park being at that intersection.
Harrison said, “You talk about beneficial use of this lot here, what else are you going to do with it?”
“It’s a bad pun, but this is going to be one of the important cogs on the greenway. It really is,” said Locke.
Taylor said once it’s completed, people can hang out under the pavilion, climb the rock wall or have a drink at the drinking fountain.
The Rotary Club committed to and raised over $30,000 for the park, Taylor said. According to an October news story, over $92,000 was raised by then for the park. Engraved bricks were sold to help raise money for the park, and several large donations were made toward the park. The club will be able to use the other bricks not engraved for future fundraisers, he said.
Harrison and Jason Hollon were two volunteers from IAW.
“This is giving back to the community. I’ve been involved with the Rotary Club for the last 12 years and we’ve been thinking about a 100th anniversary park since ’13, and I’m just thankful that I work for a company that allows Jason and I both to come out here and contribute back to the community, which is always positive. It brings value. It really does,” Harrison said.
The six or seven workers had about 350 square feet of brick to put down, with 80 of those bricks engraved, city Senior Planner Justin Taylor estimated. More volunteers were expected Tuesday afternoon.
The park is at the intersection of West Center and West Market streets, Warsaw.
The Warsaw Rotary Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and creating the park was one way the club wanted to recognize the milestone. The official groundbreaking ceremony on the trailhead park was held in September.
Ken Locke, Rotary Club, said “This is our way of kind of celebrating that whole thing. Service is what Rotary is all about. We always wanted a Rotary park in this community, and this has worked out perfectly. Then with the wheels and everything that look like the Rotary symbol, it just all kind of came together. We really appreciate the community’s support, too.”
He was helping to lay the bricks around the cog. He said he’s laid bricks before, but “never like this.” Chris Harrison, Indiana American Water (IAW), said Locke was doing a “heck of a job.”
“You’ve got to learn something new every day, so this is my learning experience today,” Locke said.
“When you do volunteer work, you learn everything,” Harrison said.
Taylor said the volunteers, including himself, had minimal experience in brick laying, but with their skills combined were figuring it out.
He said the hope is that the park will be finished by this fall. Weather permitting, concrete work would be completed over the next few weeks, and volunteers from Master Gardners were planning to aid with the landscaping.
“We’re really excited about it,” Taylor said.
The cog was donated by Lewis Salvage. The monument honors the industrial heritage of the city.
Before the park was a consideration, the lot at that intersection was just gravel and weeds. Taylor said it was turned into a “pocket’?park in hopes that people would change their minds about where green space can go and what can be done with it. The park also is along the walk/bike trail.
Locke said he had driven by the lot hundreds of times and never thought of a park being at that intersection.
Harrison said, “You talk about beneficial use of this lot here, what else are you going to do with it?”
“It’s a bad pun, but this is going to be one of the important cogs on the greenway. It really is,” said Locke.
Taylor said once it’s completed, people can hang out under the pavilion, climb the rock wall or have a drink at the drinking fountain.
The Rotary Club committed to and raised over $30,000 for the park, Taylor said. According to an October news story, over $92,000 was raised by then for the park. Engraved bricks were sold to help raise money for the park, and several large donations were made toward the park. The club will be able to use the other bricks not engraved for future fundraisers, he said.
Harrison and Jason Hollon were two volunteers from IAW.
“This is giving back to the community. I’ve been involved with the Rotary Club for the last 12 years and we’ve been thinking about a 100th anniversary park since ’13, and I’m just thankful that I work for a company that allows Jason and I both to come out here and contribute back to the community, which is always positive. It brings value. It really does,” Harrison said.
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