Moving Ahead
On July 6th, 2009, Sandra Tyrrell (Vice President and Secretary of CPA) and I addressed the City Council during their workshop.
We offered our organization’s support for the proposed linear park in the 5 parcels of land within the Dunkley Redevelopment area (B1, B2, C1, C2 and D on the city website). Ten pictures of a waterfront park of similar size which was created by the late Frederick Franck in Warwick, NY, were shown with his many sculptures integrating art, man and nature, in order to give visual possibilities to the Council of what could be done in South Haven.
We encouraged Council to include all five parcels of public lands into the parks system. They could make the true wetland park for the public as they give entrance to the flow of Black River into and out of the wetland.
We proposed a possible renovation of the DPW building, much like Frederick Franck did with an old abandoned watermill building across the river from his home. After being in Africa working with alongside Albert Schweitzer, Franck decided that by reinventing the eyesore into something beautiful for everyone to use was what he had to do.
He and a couple others took out 1200 wheel barrows of debris, put on a new wooden roof, added a unique hand carved wooden door and stained glass windows - all on a shoestring budget. When finished, it evolved into a performing arts center, used for chamber music performances, poetry readings and short dramas.
If the current DPW building were so revitalized, it could allow for meetings year round; it could also include an indoor wetland classroom for adults and their children. Monies could be made by leasing parts of the building to a restaurant or gift shop. Since these require parking, the whole triangle of lands would need to be put into the parks system to explore the idea completely.
Celery Pond Advocates would be happy to contribute signage for such a wetland park, working with the city to set up a wetland classroom outdoors and even indoors. We would also consider donating a piece of sculpture to enhance the beauty of the riverside, combining art and nature.
The Council later voted to move ahead on the linear park plans. After a lengthy discussion, the City Council gave approval for the city staff to create legal descriptions for several parcels of city-owned land off Dunkley. The Council asked for the description to also include leasing possibilites for commercial use within the potential park lands.
