Ball Brothers Foundation helps fund new canoe, kayak launches on White River in Muncie
MUNCIE, Ind. – In a few years down the road — or in this case, the river — Muncie will have new canoeing, kayaking and tubing launches along the White River.
Five new launches are scheduled for construction, according to the Ball Brothers Foundation, contributors to the project. The launches come after improvements to the water quality has increased interest in outdoor recreation on the river.
“In increasing numbers, canoeing and kayaking are thriving as outdoor activities for the residents of Muncie and surrounding communities,” said John Barlow, district administrator for the Muncie Sanitary District. “The White River is Muncie’s greatest natural resource, and as an entity that focuses on protecting this resource every day.”
FlatLand Resources, a landscape architecture and design-build firm, will partner with Muncie agencies to construct the launches to be located at Memorial Drive, Luick Avenue, McCulloch Park, High Street and West Side Park, the announcement stated.
After permits from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources are approved, construction on the Memorial Drive and Luick Avenue access points will begin. Those initial launches are expected to be finished in summer 2024.
“This project is just one more step in our city's decades-long journey of reinventing ourselves,” said David Heilman, a landscape architect at FlatLand Resources, in the release. “By building on countless efforts of others over the past 50 years to turn the White River into a gathering space and community destination, we are slowly creating an identity around a clean, ecologically diverse river that draws a vast array of recreationalists — something other cities can only yearn for.”
McCulloch Park and Westside Park both have natural access points utilized by outdoor enthusiasts already, and those interested can rent outdoor equipment, including kayaks and canoes, from Outdoor Pursuits at the Student Recreation & Wellness Center at Ball State University, the release stated.
“Inspired by the Ball family’s long-standing history of conservation and belief that the White River was a key centerpiece of Muncie, Ball Brothers Foundation is proud to support initiatives that reclaim and restore our region’s rivers after decades of pollution and degradation,” Ball Brothers foundation president and CEO Jud Fisher said in the release.
Ball Brothers Foundation awarded $90,000 in 2022 to support the design and construction of the new launches.
“With these five new canoe and kayak launches in the heart of Muncie, East Central Indiana will continue to build its reputation as a destination for outdoor recreation,” Fisher added. “This region already has outstanding amenities — the 62-mile paved Cardinal Greenway trail, exceptional fly fishing, mountain biking and horseback riding trails that are among the best in the state, and two square miles of superior water for sailing and swimming at Prairie Creek with 15 miles of natural shoreline. More canoe and kayak access sites along the White River have unlimited potential to further benefit our region.”
The Muncie-based Ball Brothers Foundation, one of the state’s oldest and largest family foundations, paid out $10 million in grants in 2022 to support arts and culture, education, the environment, health, human services, and public affairs.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Ball Brothers Foundation helps fund Muncie's new canoe, kayak launches
