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Friday, March 9, 2018
$30,000 goal to win matching grant through MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places initiative
Lansing, Mich. – The city of Owosso’s Grove Holman Park will soon have a new state-of-the-art skate park with the help of a crowdfunding campaign, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and city of Owosso announced today. The campaign is being offered through Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity.
If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $30,000 by April 30, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places program. For project details and to donate, please visit: www.Patronicity.com/OwossoSkatePark.
“Public Spaces Community Places is a good resource for communities to build community inspired projects,” said MEDC Senior Vice President of Community Development Katharine Czarnecki. “We are pleased to be able to serve as a partner in this effort to help build a skatepark in an underutilized park.”
The state-of-the-art SkatePark was designed through a community youth process and looks to replace and relocate the current skatepark which has become outdated, dangerous and in a flood-prone area. The new space at Grove Holman Park will utilize the existing parking lots and former pool buildings, restrooms and concession areas. The park currently has a sledding hill, but adding this feature will make it a year-round active space.
“Owosso has a very active and dedicated Parks & Recreation Commission which works hard to ensure our community has a first class parks system. All studies indicate that a skate park is integral to the system and I'm so excited and thankful Patronicity has chosen to help us in a big way," said Owosso Mayor Christopher T. Eveleth.
“The concept for the proposed Owosso skate park is exciting with a beginner's area and advanced area. If we can pull this off Owosso will have another recreational jewel,” said City Manager Don Crawford.
Public Spaces Community Places is a collaborative effort of the MEDC, the Michigan Municipal League, and Patronicity, in which local residents can use crowdfunding to be part of the development of strategic projects in their communities and be backed with a matching grant from MEDC. Communities, nonprofits and other business entities can apply at https://patronicity.com/puremichigan.
“Creating amenities that activate public spaces and bring the community together is a key element of placemaking,” said Dan Gilmartin, CEO and executive director of the Michigan Municipal League. “Owosso’s SkatePark will put an underutilized park back on the map for residents to enjoy.”
The Public Spaces Community Places initiative started in 2014 with MEDC providing matched funding of up to $50,000 for community improvement projects throughout Michigan. As of March 9, 2018, MEDC has provided $4,700,666 in matching grants. Since the launch of the program, 156 projects have been successful in reaching their goal, with $5.7 million raised from 28,715 individual donors.
About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state’s marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan’s economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.
