The city of Dallas Center has received a grant of $75,000 from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program, city officials announced Friday.
The grant funds will pay for permanent restrooms at the Raccoon River Valley Trailhead in Dallas Center. The REAP funding comes on the heels of an $18,200 grant the project landed last month from the Dallas County Foundation.
Construction of the restrooms, which will meet standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, should take about one year and cost about $100,000, according to the city.
“This REAP money will benefit the community by serving the expanding regional cycling community as well as our local citizens,” said Dallas Center Mayor Michael Kidd.
Kid said a second phase of the project will feature a multi-use, covered shelter space on the trail’s eastern side. The shelter would be available for use by the public library, local churches, the farmers market and the school district and would also be used for cycling events, he said.
“The city would like to thank Dallas Center City Council Member Curtis Pion for putting the grant request together,” Kidd said. “His hard work has benefited our community immensely.”
The first-term mayor also thanked several local groups and businesses for their letters of support during the REAP application process: the Dallas Center Boy Scouts of America Troop 116, the Roy R. Estle Memorial Library, Spurgeon Manor, the Dallas Center Economic Development Committee, the Dallas Center Farmer’s Market, Pullen Hair, the First Presbyterian Church and the Dallas Center League of Average Pedalers.
Council member Pion said finishing the trailhead “is a priority of the city council, and we see it as important for economic development. I would like to thank the members of the Recreational Trail Committee and the Park and Recreation Board as well as those who signed letters of support. Their input was critical in our receiving this award.”
Dallas Center Park and Recreation Board member Mark Powell also thanked Pion “as the flagbearer for this project” and said the restrooms and shelter space will be a positive addition to the community.
“The second phase we’re fundraising for is the shelterhouse,” Powell said, “and some rain gardens to kind of spruce that trailhead area up and make it more of a welcoming place. We want to make it more of a destination and help people see the importance economically to the community of the trail.”
Fifteen percent of REAP funds are earmarked annually for city projects that establish natural areas and encourage outdoor recreation and resource management. In its 27 years, REAP has supported more than 15,000 projects in all 99 Iowa counties, and Dallas Center has received previous REAP grants totaling almost $250,000, Kidd said.
The REAP grant follows September’s grant from the Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation via the Dallas County Foundation. The Greene County funds were generated at the Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson and were passed through to the Dallas County Foundation in a sharing agreement.
