Warrick County begins work on 20-acre park project
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A modern playground will be one of the key features of Ohio Township Park. (rendering provided)
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A modern playground will be one of the key features of Ohio Township Park. (rendering provided)
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A modern playground will be one of the key features of Ohio Township Park. (rendering provided)
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A modern playground will be one of the key features of Ohio Township Park. (rendering provided)
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The park will feature an outdoor exercise area. (rendering provided)
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A splash pad will be a key feature of Ohio Township Park. (rendering provided)
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Ohio Township Park will include a shelter facility that can be used for private events. (rendering provided)
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An open-air gazebo will be built at the park. (rendering provided)
Officials in southwest Indiana broke ground Thursday on the $15 million Ohio Township Park project in Warrick County.
Located about a mile east of the I-69 and State Road 66 interchange, the 20-acre park will feature amenities such as a modern playground, a splash pad and slide, and courts for basketball, pickleball and other sports.
Ohio Township Trustee Chad Bennett said the project comes as Warrick County is experiencing a population boom and fills a gap between the towns of Newburgh and Chandler.
Bennett told Inside INdiana Business that the idea for the park came by accident through a deal with Deaconess Health System.
“Back in 2019, Deaconess Hospital, approached us about buying our existing township fire station building, which was adjacent to their campus. They were landlocked and needed space,” he said. “So that springboarded the conversation to, ‘Okay, well you’ll buy us some more property and build us a new building,’ and we ended up finding the land in this area that we had to identify for our new fire station with 18 and a half acres, where we only had an acre and a half before.”
As work on the new fire station began, the conversations about developing a new park began, Bennett said. Warrick County underwent a master plan study, and county and local officials decided to move forward with the project, with the goal of creating a park on a scale larger than just a simple playground and a couple of basketball courts.
The township hired a park consultant and traveled to similar parks around the state to gather feedback on the types of amenities that are popular, and Bennett said a splash park was one key element.
Other features of the park will include outdoor fitness stations; running, walking and biking trails that connect to the Warrick Wellness Trail system; yard games; event lawns; a lake feature; and pavilions.
“We’ll have a shelter house building that’ll be the main focus of the playground splash/park area, and that’ll have two party rooms that can be rented; they’ll seat 50 people each,” said Bennett. So, if you want to have a birthday party for your children, the one wall is all glass and it overlooks the playground so adults can be inside.”
The park will be located near the intersection of Libbert and Vann roads, about a mile east of I-69 and 10 miles east of downtown Evansville.
The location is not far from the site of a proposed sports complex and golf and family entertainment center in Ohio Township reported by our partners at WEHT-TV last week. Plans for such an attraction have been talked about for years, and Bennett said they certainly played into the selection of the park’s location.
“When you do traveling sports, you’ve got a lot of time sometimes between different games that you’re in, so we’re providing a destination that’s close, that can give teams a place where they can go and have an outdoor practice area and an open field if they want,” he said. “If they want to have a private team dinner, we’ve got our event center, we’ve got meeting rooms that have space for them to do that.”
The park project is being funded in part with grant money from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI. The county received $3 million in READI 1.0 funds, as well as $4.5 million in ARPA funds, with the township contributing the remainder of the cost.
“Ohio Township Park is a testament to what can be achieved when state and local entities come together with a shared vision for community development,” Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch said in written remarks. “This park will be a cornerstone for recreation, community events and family activities, enriching the lives of residents for years to come.”
Officials estimate some park amenities will start opening in late spring 2025.