KCCRVC approves multiple reimbursement grants, allocates funds to arts, sports and downtown events

The Kosciusko County Convention & Visitors Bureau voted to approve multiple reimbursement grants for local tourism and community projects and to set a small budget for a KCCRVC logo and an updated reimbursement window.

The commission approved requests that include funding for the Dixie sternwheeler preservation, repairs at the Casasco Community Fairgrounds Shrine Building, new portable pitching mounds for the CCAC baseball complex, three promotional grants to Chautauqua Wawasee, and a partial grant for Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts parking-lot repairs. It also approved a $10,000 allocation for hotel gift-certificate incentives tied to a Grace College visitor initiative and a grant for downtown Warsaw event infrastructure after a modified vote.

The grants are reimbursement-based: recipients must spend funds and then submit receipts for reimbursement. The commission reiterated that applicants must follow the reimbursement timeline in the grant application (the board later clarified the timing language — see separate article on rules). Commission staff also authorized up to $1,000 from administration funds to commission professional logo options for KCCRVC.

Key approved items and immediate details

- Dixie's Sternwheeler (Dixie Sternwheeler Incorporated): The commission approved a reimbursement grant to support repairs and preservation work for the 96-year-old sternwheeler. The applicant, Bob…