After years of planning, presentations and studies, the Regional Development Authority unanimously voted to give the city of Portage $6.375 million to fund the remainder of the Lakefront Park project.
The Portage Lakefront Park would include pedestrian trails, boardwalks, parking lots and a visitor facility.
The fishing pier would be upgraded, and the lakefront park is expected to be connected with neighborhood development and the Portage Marina through a riverwalk along Burns Waterway.
Viewing decks with views of Lake Michigan, Burns Waterway and Chicago also will be built along the lakefront.
Portage asked the RDA for $4.6 million in May, and they were granted $448,000.
They returned Tuesday evening to present the project's development and to ask for a total sum of $6.375 million, adding the additional $2 million because the construction estimate needed to be adjusted, said Portage Mayor Douglas Olson.
After a brief presentation of the Portage Lakefront Park, the RDA members said they approved of the project, but wondered why they needed so much money to create it.
Gus Olympidis, one of two Porter County appointments to the seven-member RDA, asked if the larger figure would be the final amount the RDA would be expected to pay.
"It's taken us from an idea to opening this park next summer," said A.J. Monroe, director of community planning and development for the city of Portage. He promised the RDA that Portage will not return to ask for more money.
The money will be divided into three sections. Total construction costs, including land improvements, park access road and parking, trails, boardwalks and site furnishings are expected to cost $3.1 million.
Park structure and the riverwalk should cost $2.9 million, and $823,000 will pay for consulting fees, environmental assessment and design.
Now that Portage received the funding, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will meet with the public to discuss the environmental aspects of the project. They plan to ask for bids for the construction of the park in September and hope to start construction by November.
Just an hour before the RDA funded the multimillion dollar project, Regional Bus Authority member Stephen Adik complained that while there were many great ideas floating throughout the RDA and the RBA, nothing ever seemed to get funded.
"The problem in Indiana is nobody wants to pay for anything," he said. "In the end, nothing is going to get done if there's no money to pay for it."
The grand opening of the Portage Lakefront Park is expected to be in the summer of 2008.