By: Deborah Johnson Wood
A grassroots movement dedicated to
making Grand Rapids’ city parks vibrant and essential public spaces has
become a nonprofit organization.
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks recently received its official 501(c)3 designation and hired an executive director, Steve Faber.
“We need to view our city’s parks
through an economic development lens, a health and well-being lens, a
quality-of-life lens,” Faber says. “It’s that whole stay-and-play idea;
with all these talent attraction initiatives going on, when someone
thinks about Grand Rapids as a place they want to move to and stay in
they’re going to look at the parks.”
“Our parks are under-utilized assets
that are deserving of some investment,” says Andy Guy, board president.
“Green Grand Rapids has set strategies to start some of that work. But
the plan far outstrips our community’s capacity to implement it.”
Guy and Faber agree that vibrant parks
are essential to Grand Rapids’ economic competitiveness, environmental
health and cultural well-being. But with more than 80 parks, the city
doesn’t have enough resources to implement repairs, upgrades and
maintenance.
The park system’s budget is about $6
million, down from $10 million a few years ago, Guy says. He adds that
the Parks and Recreation Department lost half of its supervisory and
administrative staff and 60 percent of its maintenance staff in recent
years. Community programs have dwindled, and a philanthropic program
funding the swimming pools will end after this summer.
“Our role is to identify park projects,
mobilize people, and raise dollars to make the projects a reality,” Guy
adds. “We’ll work alongside Green Grand Rapids to get that done, but we
are an independent nonprofit.”
A public kickoff event at 3:30 p.m.
April 16 at Richard App Gallery offers the opportunity to review Green
Grand Rapids’ redevelopment plans for several city parks. Afterward,
attendees can join the monthly gathering of Green Drinks at The Green
Well.
Source: Steve Faber, Andy Guy, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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