Riverfront park near Lansing Center to include fireplace, concert space

Haley Hansen | Lansing State Journal

LANSING — The downtown riverfront is one step closer to a long-awaited makeover.

The Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation has pledged $400,000 to The Community Foundation for the naming rights to a new park stretching from the Lansing Center to the Shiawassee Street Bridge.

The central location downtown and proximity to the Michigan Capitol building makes the riverfront an an appealing investment, said Nicholas Heriford, president of the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation.

“We thought this would be an important place in our community," he said. “Hopefully this is a space that attracts all the different demographics in our city and community."

Plans for "Rotary Park" include renovating the plaza outside the City Market, adding seating and building a sand pit similar to the one at Campus Martius in downtown Detroit.

Construction on the site could start in the coming months. The project should be complete by summer 2019, said Laurie Baumer, executive vice president and projects coordinator for the Community Foundation, which will match Rotary's gift.

The upgrades could help spark additional interest in the area, she said.

“If you have a strong urban core, it ripples into the whole region," she said. "As a community foundation, we’re interested in the region, not just the city.”

Auto-Owners Insurance also pledged $75,000 for a “lighted forest” and a fireplace on the plaza. Team Lansing Foundation — which is part of the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau — and Gillespie Group will split a $60,000 sponsorship of the “HUB,” a concert and event space under the Shiawassee Street Bridge.

Individuals have pledged an additional $60,000 for the project.

Rotary Park is one of several projects the community foundation is working on around the river. The organization has planned a spate of improvements running between Cherry Hill Park at I-496 to the Brenke Fish Ladder in Old Town.

MORE: Lansing's Community Foundation commits $1M in matching funds for downtown riverfront development

"We've got a treasure running right through the urban core of our city and region," Baumer said. "We need to take that leap and do something about it."

The foundation will provide $1 million to match private contributions from individuals and corporations to support their efforts. The projects' funds are part of the Leadership Fund and will not affect the foundation's regular grant making, she said.

The Rotary Park project still needs final approval from the city, Baumer said.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said updating the riverfront is a way to attract both residents and visitors to the city's downtown.

"It’s an important part of building community — that we look the part," he said. "Our riverfront needs updating.”

Contact reporter Haley Hansen at (517) 267-1344 or hhansen@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @halehansen.