Millennium Park Development Updates

[houseofdon]

As do I.. any politico types have anything to say to make me less skeptical? please??

West Michigan always gets thrown the proverbial bone here and there, so you never know. Bob Dean is on the Capital Outlay committee that handles a lot of these "discretionary projects." Who knows, maybe the Democrats have some October surprises. It is election year, after all. Dean is a vulnerable incumbent with little to show for his first two years, and Sak is trying to carve out a legacy in his last term, possibly trying to keep his name fresh for a State Senate bid in 2010.

[aowwt]

I read the full article again and talked to one of my coworkers who seen a concert over in clarkston. He was impressed but was concerned about cost. I told him that a lot of acts would choice the amp over Van Andel anyday. I know that one of my fav acts went to muskegons amp for the opening of Muskegons Summerfest last year. He never came to Grand Rapids on his last tour. It was a shame since he is probally one of the few cross generational acts out there. The thing some people get concerned about is wether this will bring out the wrong kind of people to the park and the such. Frankly I find it funny that those folks are concerned about that. I think the location would need better access in and out and hopefully a specialized bus route when we have concerts. All in all I think the location is great and being as close to downtown without causing a lot issues.

[Allison Slater]

The new Route 18 bus in August is supposed to travel along a stretch of Butterworth and may go by the edge of the park. I'd check to make sure but this public computer doesn't view PDFs and is giving errors with the .doc.

Can't wait to have my laptop tomorrow <<

[DwntwnGeo]

The new Route 18 bus in August is supposed to travel along a stretch of Butterworth and may go by the edge of the park. I'd check to make sure but this public computer doesn't view PDFs and is giving errors with the .doc.

Can't wait to have my laptop tomorrow <<

Route 18 looks like it will only travel along Buttersworth until it reaches Lane and than it will head North on Lane. But if things continue to grow at Millennium Park and they finish/spruce up Buttersworth "old" dump site, I could see a bus line that would run along that stretch to take people from downtown to the Park (at least in the summer months).

[GRDadof3]

Kent County has agreed to purchase another 31 acres of land in the Millennium Park area, bringing the total to 1465 acres (35 acres shy of their 1500 acre goal set years ago).

The land is an abandoned landfill that was never capped and is on the EPA's contaminated list. The county bought it for $10,000 out of foreclosure, but will need to spend between $580 - $900,000 to cap it. It's in an area planned for the recently proposed trail system, and sits on a high spot that they hope to turn into a picnic and lookout area.

31 acre addition expands Millennium Park

It's cool to see that now when you go to Regis' Parcel Search and click on the properties around Millennium Park, most of them now have "300 Monroe" (Kent County) as the owner's mailing address. That area around MP has looked bad for so long.

[John E]

Wow, Millennium Park (Kent Trails) is really moving along. New bridges, trails (not for public use yet and/or doesn't really go anywhere) and more. I would like to see a lookout tower to see the downtown skyline. Here is a shot of Millennium Park. Got some nice skyline shots from the Butterworth and I-196 area on the way there and on the way back.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johne777/3593075103/sizes/l/

See the rest of my Millennium Park Adventure of June 3, 2009 on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johne777/sets...57619127366277/

~John

[Allison Slater]

One of the trails seems to go right into water. I was exploring around there today. The scenic drive in the Johnson Park part is really nice (and fun) though.

[fotoman311]

I've posted a photo tour on PedalGR of the newest paved trail section through the previously undeveloped part of Millennium Park east of Maynard Ave.

The trail officially opened to the public on Tuesday, although I rode it in early May and it just required carrying my bicycle around a couple of washed out spots in the trail from an 85-year flood event in January.

Press article: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ind...ra.html#preview

PedalGR photo tour: http://www.pedalgr.com/2009/06/14/millenni...tic-every-year/ (about three dozen photos)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoman311/36...57619714954782/

Here's a rough map I made of the new trail. Starting from the west, the area where the trail first goes up to Butterworth St is the 31-acre former dump that is mentioned in "recent" posts (from 2008) in this thread. It's a pretty steep climb to get up that hill.

[fotoman311]

The exterior of the new boathouse is finished. Not sure if the interior is ready, and there's still a lot of landscaping to do. I'm looking forward to renting a boat for a day on the water! It's going to be awesome.

Also, not in Millennium Park, but I highly recommend a trip on the Johnson Park scenic road before the trees leaf out. The view from up there is fantastic. It was especially nice today because of the warm temps and the fact that the road is still closed to cars.

[walker]

. . . It's a pretty steep climb to get up that hill.

I'm glad you wrote that. I've ridden that new Millennium trail three times the past week and have struggled up that hill. I thought maybe I was just getting old. I think I'll attack it again today.

I agree too with what you say about the Johnson Park scenic trail. Most people probably don't even know it's there. It's a great place to walk or bike any time of year (except that when they open the gate later in the year you have to contend with occasional cars.)

[walker]

The exterior of the new boathouse is finished. Not sure if the interior is ready, and there's still a lot of landscaping to do. I'm looking forward to renting a boat for a day on the water! It's going to be awesome.

Took a long ride on Kent Trails today including an attempt at the perimeter trail around the Millennium ponds. It's not open yet but I noticed they've put a fleet of paddle boats in the water at the dock of the new boathouse. I didn't have a camera so you will just have to imagine them in fotoman's photo. Guess what the name of the boathouse is? I'll give you a hint, the name of the nearby beach house is VanAndel.

Couldn't get all the way around the perimeter trail because of flooding. It's been that way for a couple of weeks. Someone at the county apparently couldn't wait for nature to take its course since they've got a pretty strong pump running with hoses over the non-flooded part of the path to pump out the excess water from the ponds into a nearby creek.