HOLLAND, Mich. — Holland is planning to build an 83,000-square-foot recreation center at Smallenburg Park, consolidating the city's recreation programs — currently spread across 13 different sites — into a single facility with 231 onsite parking spaces.
Mayor Nathan Bocks said the project carries a total budget of approximately $26 million, funded in part by a $5 million estate gift from the Heeringa family received a couple of years ago. The city plans to bond for the remaining $20 million.
"We're looking at building about an 83,000 square foot facility that will be based with four basketball courts that will be convertible to all different kinds of things whether that's volleyball, pickleball," Bocks said. "We're looking at breaking ground, hopefully this fall, and about a year and a half of total construction."
Planned as a one-stop shop, the new center will consolidate Holland’s recreational programs, now offered at 13 sites throughout local schools and Hope College.
"Our recreation program runs the gamut, not just youth sports. We have things like cheerleading, we have acting classes, we have ukulele classes, we do ceramics, you name it," Bocks said. "We also have adaptive recreation programs that we do in partnership with Hope College, so people with disabilities can also engage in programming."
To make way for the new facility, the playground and skate park at Smallenburg Park will be demolished. The city said it plans to salvage what it can from the existing structures.
For Holland father of four Carlos Cruz, the change is bittersweet, as Smallenburg Park holds personal memories for him.
"They used to do a lot of different things. There was a baseball place right here where they would fill it up with water, and it was ice skating. I remember coming to Bouws Pool as a kid, so it was one of my favorite parks," Cruz said.
Still, he said he looks forward to what the new facility will offer the community.
"[Smallenburg is] a wonderful park, and there's a lot of parks, but for what they're gonna do. ... It's easier for the parents, and as an adult too, they're gonna have things for adults too, so you know, I'll be there," Cruz said. "Being outside is essential for these kids and a good upbringing, so you know, you don't want them to be on games and phones, that's what's really taking over nowadays," Cruz said.
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