Porter County officials hear parks capital campaign, outline $5M nature center and $33M South County Park plan

Porter County Parks staff announced on May 19 that they have launched a capital campaign to fund two major projects: a nature and event center at Sunset Hill Farm County Park and the long‑planned South County Park south of U.S. 30.

Parks staff said the proposed nature and event center would function year‑round as an educational facility with interpretive displays, staff offices and rentable event space, and estimated a construction cost of roughly $5,000,000 for a building shell that could seat about 400 people. The center is intended to expand programming and eliminate wait lists for Camp Funset, which staff said currently serves about 900 children and has a standing wait list of 200–300.

The South County Park proposal, described by parks staff as a project in development for roughly 15 years, was presented as a full buildout estimate of about $33,000,000. That figure covers a broad scope of work — parking, trails, picnic shelters, fishing ponds, athletic fields (baseball, softball, soccer), pickleball courts and dog‑walk areas — but presenters said the plan would be implemented in phases so initial costs would be much lower.

Commissioners and parks staff discussed major cost drivers. Staff told the board the most expensive component would be utility relocation and providing an alternate access point that avoids State Road 49; staff estimated that work could add about $8,000,000 and that a phased approach could reduce initial outlays into the lower twenties of millions. Commissioners suggested beginning with a $5–7 million kickoff that would provide a functional shell, parking and trails while deferring stadium‑type amenities to later phases.

On fundraising, parks staff said a capital campaign committee has been active for about a year and will coordinate outreach to the Parks Foundation, county council and prospective private donors. They outlined corporate sponsorship levels and said the campaign team is already engaging potential investors, including regional foundations noted during the meeting. County commissioners said the fiscal authority for direct funding requests is the county council and encouraged campaign leaders to coordinate with council members and county staff about matching and bond options.

The parks announcement was presented as informational; no county appropriation was approved at the meeting. Parks staff said they will return with more detailed phasing, cost estimates and fundraising strategies as the campaign progresses. The board thanked parks staff and asked that the parks team coordinate early with the county council about any formal funding requests.