$500K Green Grand Rapids targets the riverfront, a landfill, and other public space

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

The 34-member Green Grand Rapids planning committee appointed by Mayor George Heartwell kicked off with a meeting on Monday January 28, 2008 to review its task: determine the issues in need of resolution to improve Grand Rapids parks, the riverfront, and other public spaces.

“The committee is charged with making sure the public participation process is open and inclusive and that all ideas are heard,” says Suzanne Schulz, planning director of the City of Grand Rapids. “They’re also charged with making the tough decisions. For example, how do we view the Grand Rapids Public Schools shared facilities now that the schools have begun selling some of those properties. Historically, we’ve counted those playgrounds as inventory for the parks and recreation department.”

Improving the city’s riverfront, primarily from Fulton Street south to the “S” curve is a key consideration, as well as a direction for usage of the Butterworth landfill, Joe Taylor Park, and the Ball/Perkins Park.

The committee will seek public opinion through a series of meetings with neighborhood associations, community forums, design charrettes for specific park plans, and by providing materials for individual or small group interaction that doesn’t require a neighborhood or city facilitator.

An interactive web site will launch late in February with a mapping feature that Schulz hopes will spark creative ideas from armchair urban planners.

“JJR of Ann Arbor is the lead consultant on the project, working with FTC&H and OCBA,” Schulz says. “All the firms have been involved with a number of city infrastructure projects and can hit the ground running, so dollars can be spent on public participation and implementation rather than on a learning curve.”

Source: Suzanne Schulz, City of Grand Rapids

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.