The Dr. John “Jack” Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park is now mostly funded thanks to a grant from the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund.
The city was awarded a $536,950 grant on Monday, which will be used to fund most of the park’s most expensive feature, a kayak and canoe launch, said Susan Wilder, city grant administrator.
“Now we’ve got some meat behind it to say this is happening,” Wilder told The Dispatch on Thursday. “Up until now, a lot of people have been just really unsure if we were going to get this done. Now this proves it. So this is going to put us on a forward trajectory.”
The grant requires a $95,000 match. Of that, Burns Dirt will provide $80,000 in in-kind labor, parks and recreation will provide $5,000 in-kind and the city will pony up $10,000 in funding.
The grant gets the city about two-thirds of the way to the $750,000 mark to finish the park, planned to sit in the southeast corner of Propst Park along the Luxapalila Creek, where Ornithomimosaur toe bones and other land-dwelling dinosaur and marine reptile fossils have been discovered. Needs that remain include funds for brochures, signage, a dinosaur-themed playground in the area, a Cretaceous walking trail featuring a geological timeline, dinosaur statues and an educational pavilion.
Wilder said building the city’s “dream fossil park” would require land acquisition and paving work that would drive the cost closer to $1 million.
Mayor Stephen Jones, during a Thursday afternoon press conference, noted the importance of the park and its continued development not just as a recreational site but as an additional avenue to boost tourism from across the state.
“This is a major investment in our city that wouldn’t be possible without the state funding (the city received),” Jones said. “It is a big win for Propst Park and a big win for our families. … We are building a brand new kayak and canoe launch so our citizens can enjoy our water again. This project opens up miles of outdoor fun that has been closed off to the public for years and will provide access to fossil sites along the creek past Propst Park.”
Ricky Flynt, executive director for the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund, said the board selected the fossil park as one of 20 projects to receive funding because of its unique benefit to the Columbus community and in the state more broadly.
“(The fossil park) offers some new and unique recreational opportunities, particularly where it pertains to those fossils and fossil hunting and things that (are) a unique recreational opportunity in the state of Mississippi,” Flynt told The Dispatch on Tuesday. “I think it’s one of the first that I know of. … It’s going to bring a substantial new recreational attraction to the area.”
Wilder said the Neel-Schaffer firm should complete a design for the kayak and canoe launch within the next few months, then advertise for bids to build it. She hopes construction will begin this summer.
“It’ll have a little floating dock for people to tie their kayaks to and then go park their cars,” Wilder said during the press conference. “So that’s got to be designed, and it’ll be designed to withstand flood waters. That dock will rise and fall with the waters.”
With this portion of the project now funded, Wilder said she will be seeking contributions from community members and businesses to help fund the remaining $250,000 needed.
These fundraising efforts also include the ongoing raffle for a dinosaur sculpture, from which Wilder said she hopes to raise $10,000.
Wilder said the primary priority going forward will be to raise between $100,000 and $150,000 to construct flood-proof signage in the area to organize a “soft opening” for the park before other additions like the playground and walking trail are added.
Parks and Recreation Department Director Greg Lewis said with this grant now secured, he’s more optimistic about additional efforts to make the fossil park an excellent addition to Propst Park sooner rather than later.
“Once the city starts to invest more into it, I think that’s when we’re going to start seeing other businesses and people investing in it,” Lewis said. “… The grant that (Wilder) got us, is huge, because now it allows us to put some city funds behind it and make it happen.”
The park’s namesake, who died in 2012, was a decorated World War II pilot who taught geology and earth science at both Mississippi State University and Mississippi University for Women. He was among the first to find authenticated dinosaur fossils in the Luxapalila Creek, and those fossils are on display at various museums.
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