LAPORTE – The LaPorte County Parks and Recreation Department is the first to receive a $1.8 million grant utilizing the Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Restoration Project Funds to restore Red Mill County Park.

As a result, Superintendent Tim Morgan and his team have been recognized by the Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana.

The creative financing made possible the removal of a hazardous dam and the rescue of hundreds of acres of wetlands of the Little Calumet River headwaters. The project results in the refund of $35,285 from the Army Corps of Engineers that can now be used for trail construction.