KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The new, under construction Kalamazoo Event Center and conversion of one-way streets to two-way are not the only improvements going into downtown Kalamazoo.
The city also has plans to renovate the Arcadia Creek Festival Place on Water Street, but that project has run into problems.
Deputy City Manager David Marquardt says costs have escalated since they began the planning.
“The team has seen anywhere from two to three times the cost that were initially anticipated.”
The original plan was to begin work this fall.
But they have also discovered more environmental challenges.
They are currently putting together a remediation plan with work now to begin this winter.
“With a goal of opening the northern portion of that site up again next spring and summer for general public use and for festival use,” says Marquardt.
They have received approval from the Kalamazoo city commission to seek a $6.9-million Outdoor Recreation Legacy Grant that must first get through a Michigan Department of Natural Resources screening process before being submitted to the National Parks Service.
If they don’t get that grant, Marquart says they will have to seek alternative sources of funding.
“It would be our intent to go after additional grant funding through regular cycles of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, to pursue philanthropic funding here in our community to begin to see this project to fruition.”
He says it could take until 2031 or longer to get all the improvements made, depending on funding.
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