FCCF awards $20,000 grant to Fulton County Parks and Recreation

The Fulton County Community Foundation awarded the Friends of the Fulton County Parks and Recreation a grant of $20,000 to help with the construction of a new park. The new Richland Restoration Nature Park is located on county road 450 North between US 31 and Old US 31.

Future plans for the park include pavilions, gazebos, walking trails, a disc golf course, and dog park. This park is the first of its kind for Fulton County.

The Park Board has been working on the project with the County Commissioners and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) since 2003. The new park will be constructed on a 60-acre site that had previously served as a landfill.  After closing the landfill many years ago, a plan was created to reuse the land as a park. Testing the quality of land took many years before being approved by IDEM. Once IDEM approved, Fulton County Commissioners transferred ownership to the Fulton County Parks and Recreation’s Board, the concept of the park could then be put into motion.

The Fulton County Community Foundation’s $20,000 grant will help with the first phase of a three phase project. Phase one will include construction of driveways, a parking lot, paved ADA accessible parking spots, walkways, and gazebo construction. It will also include site preparation for a dog park being constructed by a project group from the Fulton County Leadership Academy. 

For more information about the Fulton County Community Foundation or the new park, feel free to contact Brian Johnson at 574-224-3223 or futlon@nicf.org.

Pictured from left: front row; Austin Shepherd and Jay Albright (Community Foundation), Bill Walsh and Mary Chesser (Park Board), Rosie Metzger and Caroline Jones (Community Foundation. Back row; Adrienne Thompson and Ashley Burrus (Bark Park), Laura Snipes and Mark Kepler (Park Board).