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Wyoming seeks to make park ‘Ideal’ again

Posted at 11:21 PM, Dec 02, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-02 23:21:45-05

WYOMING, Mich. -- This summer a tornado landed in West Michigan, tearing through communities and destroying whatever was in its path.

One of the hardest hit areas was Ideal Park in Wyoming.

Rebecca Rynbrandt the director of community services for the city, said that 98 to 99 percent of the trees in Ideal Park, , many of which were 200 to 300 years old, were lost to the tornado.

The Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department held a community planning meeting Tuesday at the Ideal Park Christian Reformed Church. They've been working with a consultant to create a new master plan for the park and they want the community to be a part of it.

Residents were able to see possibilities for the park and suggest their own ideas based on the needs they see in the park's future.

“The tornado went through back in July, and it really significantly changed its character,” Rynbrandt said. "The old growth trees are gone, and we had damage to the playground equipment, so now we have time to redevelop the park."

“It’s sad. It’ll be generations upon generations before we’ll see that type of old growth."

This is just the first of several meetings to plan the future of Ideal Park.

If you couldn't attend Tuesday's meeting, you can submit your ideas by email.