Eighteen state-owned properties are getting $28.1 million to do maintenance work, including Brown County State Park.

BCSP is getting the largest single amount of funding: $1.5 million for work on its sewer plant.

Other projects taking place at state park inns, state forests, and fish and wildlife areas across Indiana include general rehabilitation and masonry work totaling $7.8 million, dock work totaling $1.5 million, and campground updates totaling nearly $1 million.

Playgrounds, camp offices, restrooms and walkways at 20 state-owned sites also will become more easily accessible to visitors through $2.8 million dedicated to address 26 Americans with Disabilities Act projects.

Other projects include work on water systems, fish hatcheries, HVAC systems, roofing, general site work, and restroom/toilet rehab.

The funding was allocated in the current state budget.

“Hoosiers will have an improved experience at our properties thanks to these essential projects,” said Cam Clark, director of the Indiana Division of Natural Resources, in a news release.

In 2016, as Indiana was celebrating its bicentennial, several former high-ranking DNR employees spoke to the Brown County Democrat about the need for increased maintenance funding to state recreational properties.

While the majority of operating costs are paid from user fees, ongoing maintenance is not. That money comes from the state.

Many of BCSP’s historic structures, including the Abe Martin Lodge, a large swimming pool and cabins, were built in the early 1930s during the Great Depression.

Brown County State Park, established in 1924, is not the state’s oldest park, but it is its largest, at 15,776 acres, and one of its most visited, at about 1.5 million visits annually.