The Mecosta County Parks Commission is in the early discussion stages of possibly making the Paris Hatchery building an event venue. Parks Superintendent Jeff Abel said the idea came up when they started noticing the need for one.

“Benefiting the community is the first reason.” Abel said. “The idea of renovations to the Paris Fish Hatchery came back up when we heard that the Holiday Inn in Big Rapids was purchased and is being converted into the Holiday Inn Express and it was our understanding they were doing away with all the conference center space within the Holiday Inn.” “With other establishments such as the Falcon Head Golf course that was purchased by a private entity it seems like all of the available space within Big Rapids is kind of going away.”

Currently, the goal right now is to get with a design firm to see what renovations they recommend and how much it would cost, then those plans would be presented to the Parks Commission.

Abel says they are looking at a few different ways to get funding for potential renovations which include grant money from the Michigan DNR Trust Fund Program or if the project is deemed “shovel ready” they could apply for funding through the American Rescue Plan.