Skate park to be located in the Henning Festival Grounds area

The City of Henning will use a $65,000 Blandin Foundation Leadership Boost Grant to purchase equipment to be used for skateboard park installation in Henning. The balance of funding for project concrete and ground prep will paid by additional donations of funds and services.

Leadership Boost Grants were launched to encourage Minnesotans living in rural and Tribal communities to be visionary and creative as they move their communities forward after two years of snowballing challenges.  

“The last two years of complex crises have taken a toll on leaders across rural Minnesota,” said Sonja Merrild, director of rural grant making at Blandin Foundation. “In times like this, of great challenge and opportunity, the resilience and fortitude of rural people and places shines through. Yet, we recognize the critical need for more resources to move small communities from where they are to where they want to go.”  

More than 300 Letters of Interest were submitted for funding, far more than anticipated. Based on the type of requests received, Blandin Foundation opened three grant rounds for community planning, capital projects in small towns under 3,000 people, and creative place making. To better support the many strong requests, the total amount of funding available increased from $1 million to $5.5 million after Blandin Foundation’s board approved an additional $3 million in June and a $1.5 million grant was secured from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. 

“Rural and Tribal places simply don’t get their fair share of funding and resources,” said Merrild. “When we see stats like only 5 percent of philanthropic dollars and 10 percent of federal small business loan funds go to rural, this creates resource roadblocks to future opportunity. While the leaky pipes intended to bring resources into rural communities need a complete overhaul, Leadership Boost Grants are one way we can spark energy and action toward sustainable rural futures.”  

The City of Henning was invited to submit a full application for a capital projects grant. 

Proposed project is to construct a 50’x100’ skateboard park at the city fairgrounds. The estimated cost for this project is $65,000 for equipment, and approximately $35,000 for ground prep, concrete pad and labor. Henning will seek additional funding and donated services to create a new recreational complex in the same area of the Henning Fairgrounds.

Henning is making plans to upgrade recreational options for our community, and add to boost grant by developing a recreational area featuring new skateboard park, basketball court and tennis/pickelball courts. This new area would include additional parking, lighting, walking paths and access to existing bathroom facilities. This project will be phased in as additional funding becomes available.

The skateboard park organizers said they would like to thank the Blandin Foundation for helping the community grow and create new healthy opportunities for local residents and the  surrounding communities.

For more on Blandin Foundation’s Rural Leadership Boost Grants and to see other grantee projects, visit https://bit.ly/RuralBoostGrants.