Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Renovations to the Fireman's Building on the south shore of Pike Lake are nearly complete, according to Larry Plummer Jr. of the Warsaw parks department.
The park board heard Tuesday at its monthly meeting that most of the work is done.
The building will be available for rent again in November. The park board meeting will be held there that month.
Activities director Janelle Wilson said the pyramid ramp at Mantis Skate Park is complete and $150 was collected during a recent fund-raiser.
She said Jack McKinley built the new ramp for $4,500 and it allows skateboarders to go from one end of the park to the other.
Skate park hours are noon to 8 p.m. daily during the summer and Tuesdays and Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. on the weekends until the end of October.
Instead of Cinco de Mayo, the parks department is hosting a Hispanic heritage festival, "Celebrate Latin Culture," Sept. 28.
This year a committee of community members is overseeing the Central Park event, which will include vendor booths, cultural activities and children's games.
Beginning at 11 a.m. with the crowning of a queen, entertainment throughout the day will include performances by Ballet Folkl-rico, Mariachi Band, La Ley Del Norte, Esmeralda y Los Diamantes, Groupo Campesino and Banda la Broma until 9 p.m.
The event draws more than 5,000 people to the park.
Parks superintendent Jon Garber said Walls Building Inc. will install a tiered base for a 10-1/2-foot tall aluminum sculpture being donated to the city by Milt Holmgrain.
The sculpture was made by Goshen artist John Mishler.
The installation will be at the southwest corner of Central Park, near the intersection of Indiana and Fort Wayne streets.
Garber also told the board about recent vandalism at Central Park.
Someone or a group of people carved the bark off a young tree near the pavilion, which will eventually cause the 8-year-old maple to die.
"Painting over graffiti is one thing," Garber said. "It's a shame to kill a living thing."
He said replacement costs will be about $1,500.
Plummer said someone or a group flushed a continuous roll of cloth towels down a toilet at the pavilion.
The roll got into the plumbing. The toilet had to be removed before the roll could be extracted.
In other business, the board:
• Heard an Indiana Arts Commission grant for 2002-03 of $4,374 has been received and the remainder of the 2001-02 grant, $463, was received.
• Heard a "cap" of New York blue stone will be installed on the Biblical Gardens wall by Schrock Masonry, Nappanee.
Funds from the work are available in the Biblical Gardens account, administered by the Warsaw Community Development Corp.
Park board members are Jon Sadler, Bill Baldwin, Bob Richmond, Jeff Grose and Cathy Folk. Toby Chapman was absent.
