Two grants are being sought by Chikaming Township as it plans to develop a new park in Sawyer.
The new Kohn Park will be located at 5844 Sawyer Road, the former site of an old fire station that was torn down a few years ago. The Chikaming Township Board of Trustees last week voted to apply for a $150,000 National Endowment for the Arts Grant and a $30,000 Michigan Arts and Culture Council Experience Support Grant for the new park project.
Township Supervisor David Bunte told us last month the new park is intended to bring people together.
“We have nothing like it in the township where we can bring the community together,” Bunte said. “Walkability with the improvements we’re making in Sawyer from sidewalk improvements and landscaping improvements, lighting, that’s all part of a longer term project throughout the entire Sawyer Road corridor from Red Arrow Highway to Flynn Road. That’s a long term project, but this is another element to incorporate into that to get the community to come out and enjoy their Sawyer.”
Kohn Park is named for residents Jerry and Bev Kohn, who had the dilapidated fire station demolished a few years ago and then donated the parcel and one next to it to the township.
Bunte says the plan is for the park to include green space, native plantings, a gazebo, a children’s music station, bike racks, a dog area, pathways, and space for entertainment.
The township has started a fundraising campaign to help support development of Kohn Park. The goal is to raise about $655,000.
