Health group pledges $25K for Old Town plan

A third major sponsor is backing Greenwood’s effort to overhaul the Old Town park that had been home to the pool, and the city plans to continue to pursue grants and donations.

Franciscan St. Francis Health, which runs a far southside hospital and has offices in Greenwood, will contribute $25,000 to help reinvent the former Pool Park at Lincoln Street and Market Plaza, after the city pool closed last year.

The city wants to turn the mostly empty piece of ground where the 55-year-old pool had been into a new attraction that would feature a splash pad, a sledding hill and the city’s first fully wheelchair-accessible playground areas with special features for autistic children. Huntington National Bank and Endress+Hauser also have contributed $25,000 each. Franciscan is the third and final founding donor, but the city will try to raise as much as an additional $75,000 for the work through small donations and grants.

Greenwood has hired a new municipal consultant who will pursue grant funding for the Pool Park overhaul and other projects. Sherri Contos, a part-time consultant, also will try to secure grants to help develop a park to both serve Old Town residents who had walked to the pool and draw more people downtown, Mayor Mark Myers said.

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