NORTH VERNON, Ind. — Plans for turning the North Vernon quarry into a recreational space for the community took a major leap forward on Monday, February 24 at a meeting of the North Vernon City Council with the unveiling of plans for a new and first-of-its-kind accessible playground.
North Vernon Mayor Shawn Gerkin initiated the presentation by saying that turning the quarry into a recreational space has been a dream of the city for many years. After the Hwy 50 bypass was installed, they were able to purchase the land. The dream became closer to reality after the city was awarded $30 million of READI 2.0 grant funding of previous Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s Next Level Agenda.
A portion of that money has gone into renovating the land around the quarry and the first project will be a playground designed by PlayPros, a Kokomo-based business that designs innovative outdoor spaces focused on fun, inclusion, and bringing people of all ages and abilities together across Indiana and Kentucky.
It will be the first of its kind to feature Volo Aire
a three-story, inclusive playground tower designed by Landscape Structures, that’s accessible to the very top thanks to a winding path made of their revolutionary LSI Flexx steel-reinforced net.
Project collaborators include the city council, HWC Engineering, PlayPros, Landscape Structures, Mayor Gerkin, Kathy Ertel, and Greg Hicks, to name a few.
“Part of my campaigning and working for this team was always about making North Vernon the best place to live, learn, play,” said Mayor Gerkin. “What drives me and makes me come to work every day is what can I do to North Vernon that makes it more likely that my grandkids want to stay here.”
Tim Hunt with HWC Engineering said the projected completion date for the playground is sometime in 2026, however, a portion of the walking trails will be open by July 4 of this year.