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Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts asks visitor commission for repairs; commission declines to approve grant at meeting
Summary
Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts presented parking-lot and signage safety concerns and two vendor bids but the visitor commission did not approve funding at the meeting, citing city sidewalk plans and a desire to explore lower-cost temporary fixes.
Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts asked the Kosciusko County visitor commission for funding to address patron safety hazards at its newly repaved upper parking lot but the commission did not approve a grant at the meeting.
The theater’s director of outreach and education described two safety issues: a steep curb at the front of the parking lot that can damage vehicles as drivers attempt to exit, and a roughly 12‑foot rock‑bed strip between new asphalt and a new concrete walkway that creates an unstable walking surface for older patrons. The presenter also asked the commission to consider replacement of deteriorated timbers at the base of the marquee sign and said the facility has diverted capital to other urgent repairs, including roof work and parking‑lot paving.
The presenter told commissioners the theater had received two bids for the work and selected WLM because its solution favored longer‑term durability; the other bid from Grama Design (listed in the materials) quoted $17,300 and included landscaping options the theater rejected as likely to damage the new pavement. WLM proposed using Indiana boulders in the trip‑hazard area to guide pedestrian flow and to limit drivers from attempting to exit across the curb.
Commission members pressed for lower‑cost, temporary approaches — including parking bumpers and planters — and raised a larger concern: the city planning department reportedly has proposed sidewalks in that corridor in a future phase. Several board members said spending on permanent features that the city may later remove would be wasteful and urged the theater and staff to coordinate with the city before returning with a project that accommodates planned sidewalks. A commissioner observed that a guardrail or paving to the sidewalk might address several concerns at lower cost.
Because the board did not have both a motion and a second when asked to vote, no grant was approved at the meeting. Commissioners encouraged the theater to explore temporary, less expensive interim fixes and to return with a revised proposal after discussing timing with city planning.
