Culp Lane Park

Culp Lane Park. History of the Park. The following is a description of Culp Lane Park that the Village of Bethalto has undertaken. As you can see the village of Bethalto teamed with the state of Illinois with Illinois First Funds as well as Madison County, Illinois Community Development Funds to do away with an old abandoned sewage lagoon that had been sitting for over 25 years. The 21 acre site has now been transformed into a beautiful family park which includes picnic areas, playgrounds, a fishing lake, and multi-use pathways. The village also teamed up with the local Boys and Girls Club that planted several trees in the new park., In the early 1960's, the village of Bethalto, Illinois established a 17 acre lagoon site located on 21 acres in the northwest portion of the community. After rapid growth in the mid-late 1960's the village abandoned the lagoon site and connected with the Alton Sewer Treatment Plant in 1972. The Lagoon sat unused for 25 years before Mayor Steve Bryant requested the site be drained and cleaned in 1997. The Mayor also asked the village board to start a park master plan with future emphasis not only on recreation but also family parkland, green space, multi-use pathways and nature areas. The board of trustees fully endorsed the plan and Mayor Bryant immediately sought funding for the site. The goal was to transform a large blighted piece of property into a beautiful family park without using major capital from the village funds., Once the lagoon site was drained in the spring of 1997, the site needed to sit undisturbed for several years before the dikes could be pushed in and excavation could start on the new park. In 2001 the village requested funding from Madison County Community Development's block grant program to clean up the site and fill in the old lagoon to form a new 4-acre fishing lake. The remainder of the property would be leveled and prepared for the transformation to a park. Also in 2001 the village asked Illinois State Representative Steve Davis for an Illinois first grant of $50,000.00 to furnish the new park with picnic pavilions, playground equipment, and other park essentials. Both grants were received and the project was well underway., The site was excavated and the new pavilions installed in the summer of 2003. Grass was planted as well as several trees donated by the Bethalto Boys and Girls Club through the St. Louis 2004 Grant Program. Several youth from the Boys and Girls Club helped Public Works employees plant the trees. Also in 2003 additional funds were requested from the newly formed Madison County Park and Recreation Commission. These funds totaling $50,000.00 went towards the multi-use pathways and landscaping. Nearly one mile of pathway was put down and over 100 trees were planted. The most recent grant totaling $19,000.00 was to finalize the playground area and to install rubberized mulch as a landing surface for safety within the area.