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Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission members approved five grant requests Wednesday, including a big ticket item to supply the City-County Athletic Complex with an expanded restroom on the east side of the complex.
CCAC Executive Director Karl Swihart appeared to represent the CCAC’s grant application, saying he couldn’t attend the January meeting.
One reason the commissioners tabled the grant application was the submission of just one quote, for $62,988, to expand the small bathroom.
Swihart said the problem is contractors are either too busy or couldn’t come close to the bid, adding that he contacted six builders and two came to the site.
The expansion will make the east side bathroom as large as the west side bathroom, with a total of three toilets and two urinals for the men and four toilets and two sinks for the women. The work will start in August when the tournament season winds down.
Dave Taylor appeared for the Pierceton?Chamber of Commerce, requesting publicity grants for nine events, two of them held during the same overall festival, which the commissioners noticed and combined.
Grants, at $500 each, were approved for general advertising, the Vintage Motorcycle Show, the Heirloom Tomato Festival and Agricultural Art Show, the Tomato Festival’s 5K, the Heritage Primitive Show, Pierceton Days Festival and the festival’s motorcycle, car and truck show, and the Culpepper and Merriweather Circus, for a total of $3,500.
Cynthia Cates and Dee Anna Muraski, of Kosciusko Literacy Services, asked the board to underwrite a public art project for $49,000.
The project calls for book-shaped functional benches placed around the county. Each bench would have an imbedded QR code, which could be scanned and information about the bench’s book and author would appear.
Cates said the Grace College art department, the Cardinal Center’s Red Bird artists and Lakeland Art Association members would paint the benches in the appropriate theme.
Plans are to have an initial 20 benches and add up to 36. A similar project first appeared in England in 2014 and in Lexington, Ky., in 2018.
Muraski said the benches are quite transportable and could go to different festivals in the county. Plans are to sell sponsorships to businesses who would own their benches and unsponsored benches would be sold at auction as a Kosciusko County Literacy Services fundraiser.
However, instead of underwriting the project the commissioners approved a $6,000 publicity grant.
Lyn Crighton of The Watershed Foundation received a $500 publicity grant to promote the Dance Through the Decades event in the Tippy Ballroom.
Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce member Tom Westerhof received $4,000 to upgrade his blog Hooch & Nosh. Westerhof said he would spend $3,500 to self-host the blog and add Google tools and advertising to reach more out of county readers; $500 would go toward advertising.
Westerhof was accompanied by Chamber President Rob Parker.
Erlene Yentes requested an advertising grant for $2,500 to promote the 10th annual Tour des Lakes Bike Ride July 18. She said there was a family ride, 25k, 50k and 100k routes that day.
Commissioner Jo Paczkowski noted proceeds were donated to the Syracuse Rotary Club, the Wawasee wrestling team, the Rose House and the Syracuse-Wawasee Trails. She wasn’t too happy about these distributions assuming the grant money brought tourists to the trail system and did not benefit local organizations.
Yentes said she would check with the committee regarding the donations.
The item was tabled until the May 13 meeting.
Mark Knecht and Mary Moreto of Chautauqua Wawasee outlined the organization’s history and current project, thanking the board for a grant given to promote last year’s Old Fashioned Christmas event.
The all-volunteer organization meets at Oakwood Resort on Lake Wawasee and holds programs throughout the year.
Chautauqua-Wawasee and the Syracuse Public Library are planning a book discussion on “The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story,” on March 20.
The Purdue Varsity Glee Club will appear April 24; Parkview Health and Chautauqua-Wawasee will have a discussion about CBD on May 12. The Oakwood Fine Arts Festival is June 13 and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic will perform June 28.
Rhonda Helser, Kosciusko County Treasurer, advised the commissioners two bonds will mature May 5 and May 8, respectively. She asked if the board would like to reinvest or consider another action for the funds. A decision must be made prior to the board’s May 13 meeting.
The commissioners agreed to let president Tammy Kratzer decide on any action if Helser would forward interest rate quotes, letting the other board members know her decision by emailing them.
Convention and Visitors Bureau director Jill Boggs was congratulated on receiving the Best Website award at the 2020 Indiana Tourism Association’s Annual conference earlier this month.
The https://visitkosciuskocounty.org website was launched in December 2019 and presented at the January KCCRVC meeting.
Boggs presented statistics from the bureau’s annual report and said the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership mural project continues to move ahead.
KCCRVC members are Kratzer, Paczkowski, Kathy Ray, Ron Robinson and Mark Skibowski. John Hall was absent.
