Improvements are on the way for the construction of Depot Trail Head Park in Big Rapids.

Thanks to approved funding from a special Michigan Strategic Fund meeting last week, 17 projects totaling up to $41 million dollars from all over the West Michigan region will be helped by the collaborative Revitalization and Placemaking Program, or RAP.

“City staff is excited about the opportunity to develop Depot Park into a welcoming park for those visiting the City using the newly paved White Pine Trail,” Big Rapids Community Development Director Michele Stenger said. “We are also excited about the opportunity this will create for the businesses and residents of the east side.”

The $450,000 will be going towards building a trailside park, which will include a 20-foot by 40-foot covered picnic pavillion with an attached set of unisex bathrooms, a bike rack and repair station, and an improved parking lot with 31 spaces for single vehicles.

Other nearby projects being serviced from RAP funding includes $54,000 at the Stone Hatchery Park in Green TWP, $750,000 towards Canal Park in Grand Rapids, and $45,000 for Vida Weaver Park Pavilion in Hesperia.

West Michigan economic development organizations involved with the RAP include Greater Muskegon Economic Development, Lakeshore Advantage, and The Right Place, Inc., in collaboration with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). RAP is an incentive program that deployed $100 million in American Rescue Plan funding to address the COVID-19 impacts in Michigan communities. This recent distribution is the second round of funding available to the region. In 2022, the region received $3.6 million to support nine projects.

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