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The city of Warsaw received $500,000 in grant dollars for its “Downtown Warsaw Ignition Corridor” project, and will apply for another $353,390 grant for a downtown sculpture park.
City Planner Justin Taylor first presented to the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday a request for them to approve a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for the corridor project.
The FHWA granted the city $400,000, in addition to a $100,000 grant from the K21 Health Foundation, “for the study and implementation of a demonstration project in downtown Warsaw to connect the greenway on the west side of town to the greenway on the east side of town,” Taylor explained. “So this will enable us to hire a consultant and study that before implementing a project that would connect these safely, getting bicycle and pedestrian traffic through downtown from one greenway to the other. This will enhance the connection to Winona Lake, as well.”
The Board of Works’ approval of the grant agreement initiated a five-year process to study the corridor, gather feedback and eventually begin the project.
“Very excited between this request and the next request. They’ll represent over a million dollars of investment in the downtown, so it’s very exciting,” Taylor stated.
Mayor Jeff Grose told Taylor he appreciated his efforts, as well as those of the entire Ride+Walk Advisory Committee. He said it was another step in the right direction, and it took a lot of work to get to this point.
Councilwoman Diane Quance said it will be very important for the public to attend any public input sessions.
“That is their opportunity to weigh in and stop waiting until something is processed or finished to complain or express concern or agree with and support it needs to happen,” she said, urging everyone to become involved so those two sections of trail can get connected “in the best way possible and the safest way possible.”
Quance said the community needs to be involved. Grose said he hopes to see engagement on it from the community.
The grants and the grant agreement were approved 3-0.
Next, Taylor presented the Board of Works with a request to submit a grant application to the K21 Health Foundation for $353,390 for the development of a sculpture park in downtown Warsaw. He said Terry Sweeney, Main Street Warsaw downtown development director, will apply for the grant on behalf of the city, which is why the Board of Works’ approval is necessary.
“This would be about almost a $700,000 park development downtown. Just kind of putting all the pieces together. The previous request actually dovetails nicely into (Sweeney’s) efforts as well in downtown, so a lot of things happening,” Taylor said.
The project would be located at 300 S. Buffalo St. The project is a collaborative partnership involving the city, the parks and recreation department, Main Street Warsaw and 1st Source Bank, according to a memo from Taylor to the Board of Works. The parks and recreation department has committed to the ongoing management and maintenance of the site upon completion.
Sweeney said the project is part of the Cultural District Plan, released in November 2025. The plan envisioned Buffalo Street being an art trail linking Center Lake to the southern part of downtown Warsaw.
“This part would be at the southern end of downtown as a gateway into downtown. The art trail would be called Buffalo Arts Trot, and this would be the Buffalo Arts Play Lot,” he said.
It’ll be the first fully fenced park in the city. Quance said the city has received requests for several years from parents with children with autism or other sensory disorders for such a park that keeps their children contained in an area and have safe things for those children to do.
Sweeney said the park will be accessible to people of all abilities, as well as special interactive play arts that Grose and Parks Department Superintendent Larry Plummer saw in Westfield.
Sweeney said they’ve applied for other grants for the park in addition to the K21 Health Foundation.
“Keeping our fingers crossed that maybe by the end of the year we’ll have enough funding to move forward with the project in 2027,” he said.
The Board of Works unanimously approved the grant application.
