GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — From on top of Lookout Park in the Belknap neighborhood sits stunning views of Grand Rapids’ downtown skyline and beyond.
But take a venture downhill to Division Avenue and the view is a little lackluster.
“It's all eroded,” Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. Managing Director of Planning and Design, Mark Miller said.
“It's mostly a ruin.”
A transformation is now underway— with an ambitious plan to make this disheveled hill a destination.
I met with Miller to get a better idea of the vision for this linear park.
“A ramp system that gets people down, either via bikes or as wheelchairs and will allow users just multimodal kind of access along the hill,” Miller said, adding the finished space will give people a new view of the city.
“There's moments on it, so various places where you can sort of stop, sit down, look at the view.”
We got our hands on the blueprints for the project, which really shows its magnitude.
It will be beautiful once finished, but make no mistake— this is a huge undertaking, requiring careful planning and execution.
“The hill itself is mostly sand, so it's not real stable,” Mark explained. “So you can't come in here and just clear-cut everything and build your stuff and then replant it.”
Right now, soil testing is underway to get a handle on where the ramp can be built without risk of erosion to the hill and potential harm to homes sitting on top.
“This is really a three-part project, so the hillside and the switchback park is one,” Mark said. “There's also the realignment of Division Avenue.”
The hillside ramp will connect the Belknap lookout with a park below that will reroute the two-lane thoroughfare.
“So that might include a bathroom facility, that might include rain gardens, that might include an exercise area,” Mark said.
Connectivity is at the heart of the project, trying to emulate the improved walkability of neighborhoods we see on the other side of the medical mile.
“We want to create as many opportunities to get that access back and forth in a variety of different ways, so that it doesn't require somebody to get in their car and drive like six blocks over to the hill, where the medical institutions are,” Mark said.
Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. just finished meeting with neighbors and stakeholders in the area to get feedback on design and concerns about what construction would look like.
Funding for the project will likely come mostly from the Downtown Development Authority. Finalized plans are expected this year with an expected finish in 2026 or 2027.
