By now, you've probably heard that Coca-Cola donated $25,000 to America's State Parks Foundation to build an adventure play facility at William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor. The indoor/outdoor park would be housed in the historic Globe Trading Building, and might include a rock climbing wall, zip line or a white water rafting experience.
The $25,000 will serve as a seed fund, says Maia Stephens, recreation programmer for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The project team is working to get the "redevelopment and programming vision firmly established" while "best representing Michigan's natural assets," she says.
DNRE will hold community forums to discuss the overall use of the Globe Building. "This is not an overnight plan," says Stephens, noting brownfield remediation that would need to be a part of any use of the structure.
The most recent development plan touted for the Globe, mixed use residential and commercial, was presumably halted by a soft housing market and tightened lending criteria. Stephens says that the DNRE's plans would only need a small portion of the building, so other uses can still be part of the overall development strategy.
Source: Maia Stephens, Michigan DNRE
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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