GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — If you’re walking in Grand Rapids, you're going to see a lot of construction going on in the city parks right now.
Crews recently put up fences around Canal Park, where construction is expected to start soon. Work is being done because of a park millage that was approved back in 2019.
“Absolutely worth it,” Shaine Cartwright said.
Cartwright, who lives across the street from Canal Park, checked out the renderings of what the park is going to look like a year from now.
“A lot more river access, which I'm very excited about because I have friends and family that love sports and kayaking,” Cartwright said.
This parkgoer has enjoyed the city’s green spaces for years. Despite the improvements on the horizon for Canal Park, one is closer to his heart.
“Richmond Park would be my favorite. I grew up five houses down from Richmond Park,” Cartwright added.
The city has made several announcements on improving parks over the past several years.
“It takes all of us to make great days like this happen, and it seems like this is happening more and more in our city,” Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington said.
The park millage is why the city can work on these projects.
“If we didn't have the park millage, we would not have the magnitude of the investment that we're seeing here today, but likely we would have seen a much smaller project and a scale that a magnitude that just does not equate to what we're bringing to fruition here,” Grand Rapids Parks Director David Marquardt said.
In 2013 voters approved of the city's millage but it sunset in 2020. In 2019, voters approved of a permeant 1.25 mills that contributes $5 million annually in ongoing funding for parks, pools and playgrounds. The city has roughly 74 neighborhood and community park spaces.
Some of the recent projects include Canal Park, which is now under construction. The Martin Luther King Jr. lodge and pool are set to open this summer. There's new green space coming to the Roosevelt Park neighborhood.
“Every neighborhood park that we've invested in over the last 10 years, in my opinion, is just as important, if not more important, than these large investments that we're making in MLK Park and here at Canal Park here today,” Marquardt said.
According to the city, Canal Park will cost nearly $10 million, and MLK Park will cost $20 million.
Marquardt says the park millage has brought in $40 million over the past decade. He says a similar dollar amount from private investments has also helped.
“This is a testament to that work and that commitment that our private citizens and philanthropic organizations across the city are committing to,” Marquardt said.
Canal Park is going to be closed for the rest of the year. The parks department hopes to have this back open sometime next spring.
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