Park equipment project secures state grant, surpasses fundraising goal

T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Members of the Le Grand Parks and Rec Committee — from left to right, Tyler and Breanna Sawyer, Luke and Alissa Wilson, Brooke and Trevor Parrish and Taylor Wilson — pose for a photo at the community center on Wednesday. The group recently secured a $44,750 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and surpassed its $240,000 fundraising goal for new city park equipment and other improvements.
LE GRAND — When they first met last April, members of the Le Grand Parks and Rec Committee, many of whom grew up in the community and graduated from East Marshall High School, were united by a simple goal. They wanted to bring new playground equipment to the city park they once enjoyed as kids so that their own children and the next generation of residents can enjoy playing there for years to come.
“The older equipment is falling apart,” Committee member Luke Wilson said. “A slide broke. Equipment’s rusting (and) breaking. The pea gravel’s outdated. The swings are bent.”
With that information in mind, they set an ambitious fundraising goal of $240,000 to replace the approximately 25-year-old equipment, and after receiving a $44,750 Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), they have officially surpassed it. Along with the new equipment, the project will include upgrades to surfacing, installation of pickleball courts, replacement of dated fixtures and the addition of accessible pathways.
“In addition to the overall community benefit, the project will complement the new nearby housing development,” an IEDA press release said.
After committee members presented their initial plans to the city council last year, they were able to secure a commitment of $165,000, leaving $75,000 to be raised through other sources. Wilson said they learned of the CAT grant through the team at the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce, and after presenting to the Marshall County Board of Supervisors back in December, they received a $24,000 commitment from the county toward the project.

T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY Members of the Le Grand Parks and Rec Committee — from left to right, Tyler and Breanna Sawyer, Luke and Alyssa Wilson, Brooke and Trevor Parrish and Taylor Wilson — pose for a photo at the community center on Wednesday. The group recently secured a $44,750 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and surpassed its $240,000 fundraising goal for new city park equipment and other improvements.
“We are proud to have played even a small part in helping this project get across the line and fully funded. There are projects like this that are achievable in so many of our rural communities that speak to the relevance of our work in outreach throughout Marshall County. We want successes like these to be catalysts for keeping a group of community minded individuals engaged and driving forward growth and development for their communities,” Chamber President/CEO John Hall said. “If we can be a connector for ideas, opportunities, and resources, we can help to bring about the final steps of completing these projects, as was the case in Le Grand. These leaders did the hard work of pulling plans together and bringing together the necessary capital to start everything. We were just able to be the assistance necessary to achieve the final funding for it to come to fruition.”
Additionally, the committee has taken in around $7,500 in private donations and received a $5,000 contribution from the Assistance League of Marshalltown. With all of the funding in place, the committee will work with Top Notch Tree Service to remove the equipment within the next few months, and installation of the new equipment should begin in late April with plans to have all of the amenities ready to use by Aug. 1.
With the revitalization now in motion, another major goal is to bring back the annual town celebration — which, save for an abbreviated, one-off event in 2018, has been defunct for at least a decade now — and center it around the park.
“This park has served our town well. We’ve all had a chance to grow up playing on this, and we’ve seen our kids start playing on this. But being able to see them get new and improved equipment, have their friends come, have (people from) different communities come instead of always driving to different towns to be in (their) parks. Maybe people will drive to our town,” Committee member Brooke Parrish said.
——
Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.
- T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Members of the Le Grand Parks and Rec Committee — from left to right, Tyler and Breanna Sawyer, Luke and Alissa Wilson, Brooke and Trevor Parrish and Taylor Wilson — pose for a photo at the community center on Wednesday. The group recently secured a $44,750 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and surpassed its $240,000 fundraising goal for new city park equipment and other improvements.
- T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY Members of the Le Grand Parks and Rec Committee — from left to right, Tyler and Breanna Sawyer, Luke and Alyssa Wilson, Brooke and Trevor Parrish and Taylor Wilson — pose for a photo at the community center on Wednesday. The group recently secured a $44,750 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and surpassed its $240,000 fundraising goal for new city park equipment and other improvements.