By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Although funding remains a major hurdle, plans for the development of an Adams County Council on Aging courtyard at the MERIT Center in Decatur are now complete.
Once finished, the courtyard will honor two boys who tragically died at young ages.
“The plans are all done and are looking wonderful, but we are kind of in limbo right now,” Council on Aging Director Michelle Lengerich told WZBD.com.
The council is situated in the building and operates the Adams County Transt system from there.
The eventual cost of modifying a large space in the rear of the MERIT Center – the former Northwest School – will be around $100,000. Lengerich said a $50,000 grant is being sought from Indiana United Way and the council on aging would have to raise $50,000 for a match.
Lengerich said the state United Way organization was hesitant to award the grant since the building is a government-owned (City of Decatur) structure.
“But they gave us some suggestions on how to modify our lease and our (MERIT) board approved them,” Lengerich said. A next step will be to seek city council assistance.
The area for the courtyard was cleaned up by volunteers last October. Since that time, access from the building to the courtyard has been established.
TO HONOR BOYS: Once the courtyard has been completed it will be known as the Braun Myers Courtyard and Gardens, Lengerich said.
Matthew Braun and Jaden Myers were students at Northwest School when they died.
Jaden was 10 years old when he passed in 2016. Matthew died in 1987, struck by a car while riding his bicycle.
“It was really cool; Jaden’s grandmother, Tonja Anweiler, helped us in the cleanup last October and also made a donation,” Lengerich noted.
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