CASSOPOLIS — Cass County commissioners Thursday night approved plans for a $137,500 maintenance facility at Dr. T.K. Lawless Park, a busy regional draw southeast of Vandalia.

Parks Director Scott Wyman said the recent six-Saturday program, Discover Winter Nights, attracted visitors from as far away as Chicago and Detroit.

Wyman presented plans for the pole building to the commission on behalf of the 10-member Parks and Recreation Commission, a three-member building committee and accompanied by architect Jim Griggs of Wayne Township as well as Architects Inc. II in Elkhart, Ind.

Commissioner Ed Goodman, R-Silver Creek Township, followed with Motion 38 of 2011 granting approval for the 48-foot by 70-foot insulated structure with 44 of the 70 feet dedicated to storage.

“We want to build a multi-use facility at Lawless Park,” Wyman explained. “We’re most definitely going to meet the needs for today, but we don’t want to forget about supporting growth for tomorrow.”

Multiple uses Wyman enumerated include storage, staff/volunteer space, efficiency and flexibility.

The facility was envisioned in the 2009 master plan.

“First and foremost,” he said, “we currently have no storage for equipment on-site, though this facility will be for more than equipment. We run seven special events every year and we need a place for those items in support of those special events, tools and supplies.

“Lawless Park is one of our busiest throughout the year. Currently, we have no place for staff and volunteers to work during inclement weather. To get warm in the wintertime if they’re out working, they have to sit in their vehicles. We have no enclosed spaces that are heated except for the bathrooms. I guess you could say there are seats…”

Volunteers contribute more than 2,500 hours to Cass County parks.

“Seventy-five percent of that time is at Lawless Park,” Wyman said.

The maintenance facility will allow for on-site repairs, whether to a piece of equipment, a picnic table or a sign.

Presently, “We have to haul everything to the shop in Cass and then back out to the park” on Monkey Run Street, Jones — at increasingly steep fuel prices.

“We could be a lot more efficient,” Wyman said. “It’s 820 acres with 25 physical structures, not including signage. It has a disc golf course, a crude campground, four lakes, 17 miles of hiking and biking trails, a paved mile-long trail, just to name a few. We need a structure to support those activities. This facility will be the cornerstone of the future because Lawless has only just begun to realize its potential.”

Drawings place the proposed pole barn near Monkey Run and to the left of the entrance.