GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Both the Michigan House and Senate voted Wednesday night to approve the proposed record-high, nearly $82 billion state budget.
The final budget includes several investments in West Michigan, including two major, multi-million dollar upgrades in Kent County— $35 million for the Grand Rapids Fire Department and $20 million for the city of Wyoming.
“I was cautiously optimistic and then when I received the phone call [Wednesday], I was elated,” Grand Rapids Fire Chief Brad Brown told FOX 17 Thursday. “The Grand Rapids Fire Department has been working for years, almost a decade, to rebuild some fire stations.”
Chief Brown says the projects are a collaborative effort between the state, GRFD’s union, city management and the fire department.
GRFD plans to divide the $35 million from the state budget between three specific projects— Construction of Station #12 in the third ward, the rebuild of the Division Avenue fire station and construction of a new training campus.
The new station in the third ward, at Kendall St. SE and Kalamazoo Ave. SE., will be the first new GRFD station built since 1987.
READ MORE: Grand Rapids plans to build new fire station in third ward
The money will arrive on October 1— the start of the state’s fiscal year.
“We do have quite a bit of work to do before the dirt actually starts getting moved. The biggest thing for us is to engage the help of architects and engineers and engage the community,” Chief Brown added. “We want to make sure we do it right and part of that is talking with the community and seeing what they want the fire station to look like and how we’re going to interact with the public.”
The $20 million for the city of Wyoming comes from public infrastructure grant funds.
“Excitement— that’s an understatement. We just received $20 million and, to us, this is gonna be implementing the vision that the residents here, two years ago, when they approved the Master Plan,” City of Wyoming City Manager John Shay told FOX 17 Thursday.
The money will go toward Wyoming’s City Center Project— a public infrastructure project which includes a pedestrian bridge, miles of non-motorized trails, streetscaping improvements and a reimagined downtown on 28th Street.
“This was a lot of hard work by our staff to work with our state Representative John Fitzgerald and the Senate Majority Leader, so they worked tirelessly to try to make this a reality,” Shay added. “You never know if it’s actually going to happen until it’s actually approved, so this is something we advocated for, but to say that we were sure we were getting it, absolutely not. We really didn’t know until it actually got approved.”
The earmarked $20 million in the state’s budget will allow the city to complete this project, along with Kent County’s $6 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) contribution and the city’s own ARPA investment of $10 million.
“Our staff here did a great job getting a lot of this project ‘shovel ready,’ and I think that does have a beneficial impact when the state looks at those things. This isn’t just a pie in the sky vision that we’re looking at. We’re ready to implement it,” Shay said.
The pedestrian bridge over 28th Street, near Hook Avenue, will serve as the entryway to the city’s future downtown center, while providing a direct connection to the city’s park system.
The construction of 4.6 miles of new, non-motorized trails will connect the City Center to the trails in Pinery Park, along with the Kent Trails system in Grand Rapids, Grandville, Walker and Byron Township.
These investments are part of the city’s comprehensive approach to boost access between emerging employment centers, city parks, city facilities and new housing opportunities.
Plus, the expanded trail network aims to promote improved health by offering safe, high-quality trails that connect parks, recreational amenities, revitalized public spaces and a county-wide trail network.
Overhead power lines along 28th Street, between Burlingame and Clyde Park Avenue, will be buried to support implementation of the city’s form-based code, while improving the aesthetics along the corridor.
Construction on the City Center is expected to start this summer.
The city of Wyoming will host an open house for community members in September so they can learn more about the City Center.
Click here to stay updated on the progress.
The final version of the state’s FY24 budget also includes the following investments in West Michigan:
- $14 million for John Ball Zoo
- $5 million for the Grand Rapids Children's Museum
- $5 million for Special Olympics Grand Rapids
- $5 million for West Michigan Hispanic Chamber capital improvements
- $3.5 million for Cascade Charter Township Urban/Suburban Recreational Pathway
- $2 million for Junior Achievement in Grand Rapids and Detroit
- $1.8 million for the Grand Rapids Ballet
- $1.5 million for the Blandford Nature Center
- $1 million for a Calvin University workforce development partnership
- $1million for Exalta Health
- $1 million for the West Michigan Center for Art and Technology
"This funding will help support our children, crime victims and workers, feed the hungry, provide critical emergency care and enhance the quality of life in West Michigan," Senator Mark Huizenga (R-30th district) said.
READ MORE: Legislature approves record-high $82B ‘Make it in Michigan’ state budget
