Survey deadline has been extended to November 26, 2021. All Putnam County residents are encouraged to complete the survey and spread the word. https://tinyurl.com/PutCoparksurvey

Purdue Extension Putnam County and the recently formed Putnam County Parks Board are working to bring healthy fun and activity to all of Putnam County and they need the help of everyone in the community.

The Putnam County Council created the Putnam County Park Board in July of this year with the ultimate goal of improving and enhancing the quality of life of all Putnam County residents. By working to create more spaces for outdoor recreation, facilitating educational and/or fun programs and events, and building a variety of facilities throughout the county, they hope to not only encourage more residents to get outside, exercise, and enjoy the natural beauties of the county, but to also draw visitors, increasing the economic growth of the Putnam County community.

Purdue Extension Putnam County teamed up with the Putnam County Parks Board to help gather input from Putnam County residents and analyzing the information for use in a 5-year master plan, which will be used to apply for a massive grant from the Department of Natural Resources.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a variety of grant programs designed to help communities expand their recreational spaces and encourage healthily activities. The DNR requires the county have a parks board and a master plan in order to qualify for a grant that could range from $5,000 to $2,000,000. While Putnam County is halfway there, having created the park board, the creation of the master plan has proven to be a struggle.

Purdue Extension Putnam County is facilitating a survey designed to help create the master plan. They need at least 1,000 completed surveys to have a more accurate view of what the community wants and needs. The more surveys completed, the more accurate the wants, desires, and needs information becomes. However, they have only received a little over 500 completed surveys.

The survey deadline has been extended to the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 26. The survey takes 5-10 minutes to complete and is anonymous.

Survey respondents must be 18 years or older. You can find the survey here: https://tinyurl.com/PutCoparksurvey.

For questions related to the Master Plan process, you can contact Eric Freeman by cell at (317) 607-5243 or email at eric@pipecreek.net. 

Printed surveys can be picked up at the Putnam County Visitors Center, 12 W Washington St., Greencastle, IN 46135. A copy will be mailed to you if you call or text Eric Freeman at (317) 607-5243.

Purdue University Extension is administering the survey and collecting and analyzing the response data for use in the Master Plan. For questions related to this survey, you can contact Jenna Nees (smith535@purdue.edu), Abbi Sampson (sampsona@purdue.edu), or Kara Salazar (salazark@purdue.edu) referencing the Putnam County Park Board Master Plan Survey, IRB # 2021-1430.