{"id":39352,"date":"2026-09-04T17:40:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T21:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=39352"},"modified":"2026-09-04T17:40:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T21:40:36","slug":"donations-sought-to-revamp-decatur-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/04\/donations-sought-to-revamp-decatur-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Donations sought to revamp Decatur park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fundraising campaign to completely revamp South Ward Park in Decatur has been announced by the city’s parks and recreation department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If $50,000 can be raised within 60 days, the department will receive a $50,000 matching grant from the CreatINg Places program of the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority (IHCDA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plans call for the park to become an inclusive and multi-sport area for youngsters and families \u201cof all abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have the opportunity to receive a matching grant from IHCDA to help bring this project to life, but we must reach our community fundraising goal first,\u201d Parks Superintendent Cara Gerber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat means every donation matters. Every share matters. Every person who believes in creating a space where everyone has the opportunity to play matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTogether, we can create something lasting for our community. A place where children of all abilities can play, explore, connect, and belong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donations may be made at: www.patronicity.com\/southwardpark<\/a> A QR code is on the department’s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business sponsorships are offered in sums of $250, $500, $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALL-SPORTS FIELD: Previously released information notes that an all-sports field is \u201cthe perfect addition\u201d to the park, which already has a basketball court. \u201cWe plan to create a space that soccer and even volleyball can be included,\u201d it was pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be fenced in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Artist’s concept of new South Ward design

<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to an earlier post by Gerber, \u201cThis summer, we took some time to meet with multiple recreational designers. Out of the designs sent to us, this one was the most unique and sensory forward design we received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe spoke with parents and educators on pieces to include in this park. We also presented the pieces to children and parents at one of our largest summer camp days to which the children asked how fast we can build it for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c We are very excited for the opportunities this park will provide to our community…\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BOB SHRALUKA WZBD.com A fundraising campaign to completely revamp South Ward Park in Decatur has been announced<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[17,14,15],"class_list":["post-39352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-community","tag-decatur","tag-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/S.-Ward-court.jpg?fit=936%2C462&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39354,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39352\/revisions\/39354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}