State, City, And Community Leaders Celebrate Groundbreaking At Martin Luther King Park
The official groundbreaking on the $19.7 million MLK improvement project took place Monday, June 17th at the park, 1200 M.L.K. Jr. Street SE
State, City, and community leaders will officially kick off construction at Martin Luther King Park at the celebration event that included giveaways, refreshements, and family fun.Once work is complete, the park will have the following features:
New lodge:The new 25,000 square foot lodge will be nearly five times larger than the old lodge. The new lodge will feature offices, a rentable event space, gymnasium, rentable classrooms, and a fitness room for recreation classes. The history of the lodge and community will be preserved in hallway gallery that showcases historic photos and community art.
New pool house: The separate pool house building will serve as the new entrance to the pool deck. It will include a pool staff kiosk, lockers, restrooms and both individual and family changing rooms.
Reconstructed parking lot:The parking lot will be expanded to include more parking spaces and improve accessibility.
New playground: The new, expanded playground will be built on the southeast corner of the park.
New fitness loop: The loop will add an additional recreation feature to the park.
The loop will include exercise features along path and will be constructed on the southwest corner of the park.
Relocated community garden: The existing community garden will be relocated and receive new features.
This transformative project is funded by the City's Capital Fund, the dedicated Parks Millage passed in 2019, the City's Third Ward Equity Fund, a Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) grant, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Project partners include King Park Neighbors, Isaac V. Norris & Associates, P.C., Erhardt Construction, OCBA Landscape Architects, Comprehensive Engineering, Fishbeck, Geotech Incorporated, Catalyst Partners, Tiffany Eden Design, Muse GR, and Grand Rapids African American Museum & Archives.
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