In spite of last year’s setback, city officials are doubling their efforts to earn state funding for their initiative to increase public access to the Dowagiac Creek.

The city is currently developing a pair grant applications to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for development of Rudy Park and the city-owned property on Cass Avenue, located across from Creekside Church. To share more information about the projects and gather input from residents, the Dowagiac City Council is hosting a public hearing about the applications during its next meeting, at 7 p.m. Monday, March 27, at city hall.

The pair of grant requests will be submitted to the DNR’s Trust Fund program, which distributes money to communities across the state annually for outdoor projects. The city will request $300,000 worth of funding for both projects, the maximum award the DNR program allows for, said Dowagiac City Manager Kevin Anderson.

The first project the city is
applying for at Rudy Park, located across from Heddon Park near the city limits, calls for the same improvements officials called for in an application submitted to the DNR last year, including a small parking lot, paved walkways and an observation deck. While the city’s application narrowly missed the cut last year, leaders plan to make some small adjustments to bolster the city’s fortunes this time around, Anderson said.

The proposed Cass Avenue project will be similar in scope, and will be built in several phases, Anderson said. Plans call for the construction of a 10-car parking lot and a fishing deck over the Dowagiac Creek in the first phase, which the city is applying for DNR funding.

Additional phases will include building a playground, shelter and restrooms on the currently vacant lot, the city manager said.

“It will be a really good project that will serve the public well and turn the property into a nice fishing hole,” Anderson said.

This is the first time that the city is applying for DNR dollars for developments on the property.

The projects are part of the city leadership’s efforts in recent years to improve its public parks and green space, in particular on properties surrounding the Dowagiac Creek. To this end, the city is considering improvements to other publicly-owned spaces, including those nearby the bridge on Riverside Drive, Anderson said.

“We are really looking forward to giving the public some enhanced access to local waterways,” he said. “Over the next 10 years, as we continue to do projects like [these] and continue to pick up additional properties, it should become a nice amenity for the community.”

The city also hopes to use the development to expand on local trail systems as well, with Cass Avenue serving as a possible trailhead, the city manger said.

City leaders are working with engineers with Wightman & Associates for preliminary design work and renderings for the Rudy and Cass Avenue projects, which should be on display during the public hearings later this month, Anderson said.

While the city’s application missed the cutoff last year, Anderson said he is confident that both the city’s submissions will make the list later this year.

“We think they are both good projects that are consistent with the goals of the [DNR Trust Fund] program,” he said. “We will be putting our best foot forward in hopes of getting them both approved.”

Applications are due to the DNR by April 1.