Charlton Park’s Director Dan Patton gave the annual report to Barry County Commissioners Tuesday, saying their attendance and revenues remain stady. He included a list of members of the 2018 park board.
Counting educational programs, rentals, special events and other, but not the recreational space users, the park hosted 30,359 visitors last year, with 18,073 of those attending 13 special events, he said. Some 2,400 hours were reported by 145 volunteers, but he stressed that many volunteers never sign in, so both numbers are really much higher.
A fact sheet showed an unaudited report of revenues of $608,195.56 and expenditures also at $608,195.56 for the park in 2017. Voter approved millage ($431,384.30) and non-millage revenue ($155,218.34) are by far the bulk of its income; big ticket items paid out are for personnel ($400, 534.19), utilities ($25,855.53), capital building and equipment (34,982.67), special events ($37,548.74) and other ($47,846.74).
A collections summary showed the park had a total of 19,380 records with 29,123 images; 940 new records entered and 1, 951 records updated last year. They added 13 artifacts and removed 10 that were broken, in disrepair, missing pieces, duplicates or no longer relevant to the collection.
Patton also called attention to two upcoming special events at the park; the 36th annual Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration on July4 from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., a salute to veterans, and the 47th Antique Gas & Steam Engine Show on July 13-14.
In summary, the report read: “Historic Charlton Park Village, Museum & Recreational Area continues to be a major attraction for Barry County and an economic engine for our community. Our attendance numbers and revenue remain steady and our commitment to appropriate management has never been stronger…While we celebrate our successes we continue to move our organization forward …We will continue our efforts to preserve Barry County history while supporting activities for families in our community.”
In other business, the commissioners approved spending up to $40,000 for upgrades in the county courtrooms recording and audio equipment from Business Information Systems, Inc., with funding from the Data Processing Fund.
