DCCB Award CAT Grant for Nature Playscape

The Dickinson County Conservation Board (DCCB) has been awarded $387,000 through the Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) Grant program to support the development of the new Nature Playscape at Kenue Park in Okoboji. The grant marks another major milestone in the continued effort to create a destination environmental experience focused on nature connection, education, and family recreation in the Iowa Great Lakes region. 

The grant puts the board at a total of $1.7 million raised with only $216,000 remaining to raise for the project to break ground.  

“We are incredibly grateful for the support this project has received from the Iowa Economic Development Authority,” said Amy Heibult, community relations coordinator of the Dickinson County Conservation Board. “Partnerships like the CAT Grant program help bring meaningful outdoor experiences to families while investing in the future of our communities.” 

The Nature Playscape project will transform the existing area near the Dickinson County Nature Center into an immersive environment designed to encourage creativity, sensory exploration, physical activity, and education of the natural world. Planned features include climbing structures, imaginative woodland village, musical elements, sand-digging and water spillway, pollinator plantings, raised platform with bridges, overlook with a boardwalk, and interactive components inspired by Iowa’s natural landscapes.  

Funding from the CAT Grant program will assist with the construction of key interactive areas and visitor experience components within the project.  

“This is the communities’ playscape and they have generously brought it this far! We are almost there,” Heibult exclaimed.     

There are multiple ways of donating toward the project: visit www.dickinsoncountyconservationboard.com/donate, stop in at the Nature Center, or mail your gift to the non-profit branch of DCCB, the Conservation Foundation of Dickinson County (CFDC) at 22785 Nature Center Rd, Okoboji, IA 51355. All gifts are tax deductible and go directly toward the construction of the playscape.