SPRING LAKE, Mich. — The Village of Spring Lake is hoping their big news about the state's smallest park will bring some tourism to the village.
Michigan's smallest park is coming to Spring Lake, the village announced Friday.
“We’ve been looking at ways to create more common spaces within our Social District and we have a few spaces in mind that we are focusing on," said Stefanie Herder, director of the Village’s Downtown Development Authority.
The development authority is looking to create more gathering spaces in the village and has picked a location for the park on the east side of South Jackson Street between Well Adjusted Chiropractic and the former Seven Steps Up.
“During the pandemic, the Village was awarded a grant to purchase a concrete cornhole set for our social district. We placed the cornhole game in this location along South Jackson Street for folks to enjoy. I kept looking at this area and thinking about how else we can enhance that space to encourage more people to use it,” said Herder.
The park will include seating, plants and planters, shade and more. The village says that there are two parking spots adjacent to the planned park which could be used by food trucks.
When planning first began, the village looked at the possibility of being home to the nation's smallest park. After researching, they found that a park in Oregon was home to the world's smallest at 452 square inches, which would be hard to beat.
The village decided instead to work toward creating Michigan's smallest park, which there was no current record for.
“There wasn’t much out there about an official, smallest park in Michigan. I took this information and tied it in with our goals for more gathering spaces in our Social District. Why not create a new common space AND make it Michigan’s Smallest Park?” said Herder.
Herder said that over 20,000 cars drive through the village each day and being home to the state's smallest park could make some of those travelers stop in the village.
"I’d love to see visitors stop to visit the new park, take a selfie, grab a bite to eat, enjoy a social district drink, or shop," Herder added.
Construction on the new park is slated to begin this summer.
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