By Debbie Blank, Batesville Herald-Tribune assistant editor
debbie.blank@batesvilleheraldtribune.com
The future Whitewater Valley Regional Interpretive Park in Metamora will serve as a gateway to the area. Economically, it could be a boon to the region as tourists descend.
On April 28, 2005, by a 50-2 landslide, Metamora property owners decided to find funding to purchase the 33-acre former Maclyn's Campground north of U.S. 52 for their dream. Recently, it became reality when the Indiana Department of Transportation awarded Franklin County $689,600 in Local Public Agency funding to buy the land, according to Marvin Jenkins, INDOT Seymour District director of public information.
Franklin County officials made their case for the federal matching funds before an award panel at the INDOT's Seymour offices Sept. 24. The panel's decision to choose the county's project was recently confirmed by an Indianapolis selection committee.
Candy Yurcak, who led the acquisition effort, "was excited beyond belief" to nab the dollars on the organizers' second attempt.
This was the logical next step after INDOT gave official designation to the Whitewater Canal Scenic Byway, a 76-mile canal route from the National Road to the Ohio River, in July.
The interpretive park will contain "a welcome center that represents the counties (Franklin, Wayne, Fayette and Dearborn with loops through Union and Ripley counties) and leads people through the region to see the wonderful assets that the valley possesses. The old historic (Brookville) depot will become a banquet hall facility that can be rented out for weddings, receptions, conferences and family reunions as a way to generate income," Yurcak reports. That building also can be used for community meetings.
Another existing building to the west of the welcome center will serve as a museum, boasting historical artifacts and interactive displays.
"Obviously we will be reopening the campground" to generate income. The organizer points out, "That facility could be used for Boy or Girl Scout encampments and educational experiences." The acreage in the middle can be used to host "any number of events," such as a horse show, Civil War re-enactment or university field study.
In the future, an amphitheater could be built into the hillside. The Whitewater Canal Byway Association president adds, "We hope to reconstruct the Gordon Curry blockhouse," which originally was at that location to protect settlers from Indian raids. "It was never needed." Yurcak imagines visitors hewing a log or facing a stone there "to have a hands-on experience about how these people lived."
Another goal is to blaze a trail that connects to the Whitewater Canal Trail on the other side of the highway.
When the Metamora Economic Development Corp. was unsuccessful in obtaining funds a year ago, members decided to broaden the scope of the park and turn what money they had raised over to WCBA. That 18-member board looked at the Maclyn property and others. The panel decided the Metamora site was the best for three reasons - its income-producing potential, central location and the fact that the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site there "is still the most visited state historic destination," according to Yurcak.
The purchase price is $862,000. In addition to the INDOT funding, $172,400 was raised through gifts, fundraisers, donations and loans.
"Our next step is a coordination meeting with the INDOT Seymour District," Yurcak says. Then organizers, who are a subgroup of the association, will start working with consultants, traveling to other museums for inspiration and continue fundraising and grant writing.