The Dallas County Conservation Foundation (DCCF) learned this week it has landed $90,000 in grant funds in the Wellmark Foundation 2017 Matching Assets to Community Health program to put toward phase one of the proposed Raccoon River Valley Trail (RRVT) to High Trestle Trail (HTT) connector.
The DCCF now has until Sept. 18 to match the Wellmark Foundation grant dollar for dollar.
“What this means is that we need to match this grant with another $90,000,” said Mike Wallace, director of the Dallas County Conservation Board.
“We commend you for your commitment to the health of your community and the individuals that will benefit from your project,” said the Wellmark Foundation Board of Directors in awarding the matching grant for the connector trail project. “We are delighted in the work you are doing to make Iowa a better place for all of us to engage in a safe and healthy environment in which to be active.”
Wallace said the phase-one project — the first construction segment of the 9-mile, $5-million RRVT to HTT connector — would include the segment from 18th Street in Perry eastward about 1.5 miles to 130th Street. The total cost for the phase-one construction is $556,000, he said.
“It is hoped that this construction could happen in 2018,” Wallace said.
In addition to the Wellmark Match Grant, the DCCF recently received an additional $10,000 from Bob and Jane Sturgeon of Urbandale, who donated through the Dallas County Foundation (DCF).
“This special donation was given the same night as the annual Dallas County Foundation awards dinner,” Wallace said. That April event also saw the DCF make its final pledge payment donation of $20,000 for the connector project, bringing the DCF’s total connector pledge to $60,000.
About $1.7 million of the project’s $5 million total has been secured in grants and donations from government programs and gifts from businesses, organizations, families and individuals.
“These recent funds received or awarded to the DCCF, as you might expect, are a great start to getting to the $556,000 estimated phase-one project total,” Wallace said. “Now that the trail season is upon us, it would be a great time to make a sizeable donation for this Phase I project. Please consider donating to help raise the funds for this first phase and for the ultimate completion of the RRVT to HTT connector project.”
You can donate by going to the Dallas County Conservation Board website or calling the Dallas County Conservation Board at 515-465-3577.
I am so glad for this. Still, there were more than a few of us around back in 1980 who thought the abandoned railroad right of way should have been put to public use. We’d known of nature and bike trails in other states that utilized abandoned railroad lines. The project envisioned now could have been accomplished for pennies on the dollar then. Now, we’re struggling to make up for the grand opportunity passed over 35 years ago.