The Columbus Parks and Recreation Department will be constructing a new maintenance building at a cost of just over $200,000.

That’s after the Indiana Department of Environmental Management warned that the current building in Lincoln Park is inadequate, especially for an area that also has some of the city’s wells for drinking water.

Mark Jones, head of the parks department, explains that the existing building is used to store many materials including chemicals. He said that there have been no spills or other incidents, but the discussion with IDEM came about after an audit of parks facilities.

Jones, head of the parks department says that the existing building started out as a two-bay garage which is too small for the city’s needs.

Jones said that the city will be building a structure that allows for space for the up to 15 employees who work there now, as well as facilities to safely clean equipment. The building will not be air conditioned and will largely be a shell.

The City Council last night approved spending the money to construct the building out of the parks department’s cash reserves. Jones said the estimated cost to construct the building is about $200,000 but that is before the design work has been completed. He asked the Council to approve $240,000 in spending for the project.