Ready, set, play!

CELINA- After a few years of work, the Grand Lake Recreation Club and Lake Improvement Association- along with many other stewards of the lake- came together Friday to celebrate the official opening of an accessible fishing dock, playground and shelter house near Grand Lake's West Bank.

The lake's newest amenities, located adjacent to the dog park toward the south end of the West Bank, were a joint venture between the LIA and GLRC that kicked off in 2023.

The project then started to materialize in 2024 with the installation of an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant fishing dock. The dock replaced a previous dock that sustained major damage years prior due to ice.

"We always strive to get more activities (available out) here, but sometimes we don't think about how we got to do things that everybody can be involved in, and that's why we wanted do this," GLRC President Brad Fisher said. "We wanted ADA parking for buses, vans (too), so if you want to come out here, do a little fishing (you can)."

Next came a playground nearby, which features three slides, sky wheels, a crunch bar, a river rock climber, a toadstool climber, an hourglass climber, a double ridge climber and additional activities. The playground was installed by VTF Excavation in 2025.

"It's a place where families can come and make memories, and it's one of the many amenities that make our lake and our community such a special place to live and visit," LIA President Brian Morris said. "One thing that I love is we're just seeing a lot of positive feedback. It seems like every time we drive by families are enjoying the play park. The other day, someone commented on Facebook how much he really enjoyed being able to fish on the dock while his son played on the playground."

As the project evolved, a shelter house was added to the mix. Constructed by the high school students of Tri Star Career Compact's construction program in fall 2025, the structure houses numerous picnic tables.

"The Tri Star kids were just incredible. There was 15 to 20 of them that showed up and they were, after two weeks, they put it all up," GLRC member Eric Doench said. "They put in all the concrete for it. They did everything and they did just such a great job. It's beautiful."

Tri Star's contribution also allowed for valuable, real life experience for the students.

"They got to see the whole process, because we had to get permits, we had to have inspections afterward," Fisher said. "Eric worked with them, and did inspections."

Morris estimated the total project cost to be $85,000. Funding was spread across a plethora of local entities.

"One thing I'll point out, is that we had a lot of community donors, so having the support of so many community members is inspiring to me. It shows what can happen when people come together with a shared vision for bringing a fun new facility to our lake," Morris said. "It's just a community, family facility on the West Bank of the lake and that's one thing that we could do, in partnership with so many others. I definitely don't want to leave the recreation club out because they did a lot of this."

In addition to LIA and GLRC, the following businesses and organizations contributed to the project: Access Engineering, Shinn Brothers, VTF Excavation, Taylor Painting & Striping, Tri-Star Career Compact, Celina Moose, Celina Eagles, Cargill, Celina Lions Club, Celina Rotary, South Shore Sportsman Club, Celina VFW, Boardwalk Grill, Boardwalk Village, CAPT, Dynamic Federal Credit Union, RanDer Advertising, Celina American Legion, Celina Kiwanis, Homegrown Tone Alert, Mercer County Sportsmen's Association, People's Bank, Shingle Shack, Wabash Mutual Telephone Company, Armcorp Construction, K.L. Schulte Construction, Midwest Electric, Grand Lake Rotary and the Celina Lake Festival.