The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has approved the sale of the Riverwoods property to the South Haven Area Recreation Authority, potentially beginning a major parks project in the area.
South Haven Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Jennifer Sistrunk tells us the 50 acre Riverwoods property was acquired by the DNR when plans for a development there didn’t work out around 2008. SHARA has since approached by the DNR about purchasing the land north of South Haven so it could be used for recreation.
Sistrunk says the visitors bureau is working with SHARA to develop the site into something all residents and visitors could use.
“There is a need for several things, including pickleball courts, dog parks, potentially mountain biking trails,” Sistrunk said. “There’s just a need for a number of recreational opportunities in South Haven. And that property, with 50 acres, it’ll really be an opportunity for us to start looking at developing some of those things that people are asking for.”
One plan is to move the remains of the Kal Haven Trail covered bridge there. The visitors bureau has committed $100,000 to preserve the bridge. How might that look?
“We thought about putting it on a land-based trail so people could still walk underneath it, take pictures. It wouldn’t be over a body of water, per se, but there are a few creeks and things that run through there.”
The covered bridge was removed from the Kal Haven Trail by the DNR during a construction project last year.
Sistrunk says final details for the purchase of the Riverwoods property are being worked out now. A planning process for use of the site will begin this fall, and residents will be involved.
