2019 is on track to be a big year for the Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation department, with multiple projects and events planned for public parks including the Grand Traverse County Civic Center, Medalie Park, Power Island, Twin Lakes, and the Natural Education Reserve, among others.

Parks and Recreation commissioners this month received an overview of park plans and projects for 2019 – with the longest list of improvements slated for the Civic Center. Parks and Recreation Director Kristine Erickson told commissioners $147,000 in state funding approved by the Michigan Legislature in December for the renovation of the Civic Center’s amphitheater will be released to the county by March 1, allowing construction to break ground in April. The Art and Mary Schmuckal Family Foundation also donated $10,000 to the project. The renovations – which will allow Parallel 45 to launch a new summer outdoor theater repertory at the park this year, and other groups to rent out the facility – are targeted for completion by Memorial Day weekend. Upgrades will include resurfacing the stage, installing stairs and risers, building ADA-accessible ramps, and renovating the former Probate Court building for use as a rehearsal and dressing room space.

Major changes are also being eyed for the northern section of the Civic Center. The county has contracted with Influence Design Forum to develop design and landscaping options for that section of the park, particularly the northwest corner, where commissioners hope to create a more open and inviting connection to Front Street. TC Community Garden (TCCG) Executive Director Kimberly Conaghan is also pursuing board approval to open the organization’s second community garden this spring in the Civic Center’s northwest corner. TCCG already manages a community garden at the Historic Barns Park, which allows users to rent plots for gardening and donates organic produce to local food charities. Conaghan said the Civic Center could accommodate a minimum of 12 raised garden beds but potentially as many as 30-40, allowing community members and nearby residents – notably those without any other access to land for gardening – to garden at the park.

Other Civic Center projects planned for this year include the creation of a Norte traffic garden, which would provide an interactive, outdoor pedestrian and cycling safety classroom for youth; upgrades to the park’s historic Native American marker tree, including benches and educational signage; re-roofing and painting the picnic shelter and paving the nearby dirt parking lot; installing a new backdrop on baseball field 8; and installing a watermill climber in the playground. The Civic Center has also received a $75,000 donation from the Mahogany Foundation toward an estimated $100,000 project to replace the bleachers in Howe Arena. Erickson says if the remaining $25,000 can be raised, she’d like to see the bleachers finished in time for Howe’s 30th anniversary in September. The Civic Center has also lured at least one major new event to the park this year: Crooked Tree Arts Center plans to move its Outdoor Art Fair on July 27 from the Northwestern Michigan College campus over to the park, bringing approximately 100 artists and 3,000-5,000 attendees to the property.

Major improvements are also planned to take place this year at Medalie Park next to Logan’s Landing on South Airport Road. As part of the $5.5 million Boardman Lake Loop Project, which will see the last missing section of the trail built to complete a five-mile loop around the lake, Medalie will become a designated trailhead for the loop. Two new bridges will connect to the park from the east and west sections of the trail, with parking and lighting upgrades, an ADA-accessible canoe/kayak launch, shore stabilization, and restroom upgrades also planned. The park upgrades (not including the bridges) will total just under $100,000. According to TART Trails Executive Director Julie Clark, the loop project is going out for bid in March. “It means we’d get bids in April, and then we’d have a month or so of mobilization until things really got underway in June,” she says. “We’re still aiming to have it completed by late summer or early fall.”

Other county park projects planned for 2019 include:

> Power Island: Staff hope to build at least one and potentially up to three rustic cabins on Power Island for use for camping rentals. The department intended for several years to build Adirondack shelters on the island, or three-sided lean-tos. But Erickson says cottages or cabins would provide better shelter against the weather and could allow for late-fall stays. “If you have an actual structure that has four sides and maybe some built-in bunks, people could hunt later in the season,” she says.

> Twin Lakes: The GT Rugby Club is planning to expand and improve Twin Lakes’ multi-purpose field to accommodate rugby games and tournaments. The Parks and Recreation department is also looking to install WiFi at the park this year, as well as air conditioning in Gilbert Lodge. “We would ideally like to have it done for summer, because we’re already getting wedding rentals,” says Erickson.

> Natural Education Reserve: As part of continued restoration work following the removal of multiple dams along the Boardman River, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding will help pay to plant 20,000 native trees and shrubs in the Boardman and Sabin bottomlands. The work is being done by subcontractors and volunteers, according to staff reports.

> Park Plans: Finally, Parks and Recreation staff hope to make progress on several key plans this year that will guide long-term operations of the department and its parks. Those include completing a two-to-three year strategic plan, laying the groundwork to develop a new Civic Center master plan, creating a fundraising plan for a new Senior Center building, making a plan to have Parks and Recreation become more self-sustaining and less dependent on county general fund dollars, and developing a post-dam removal recreation plan for the Boardman River that would include bottomland trails and river access sites.