BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
A $100,000 fundraising drive for Depot Park is just the beginning, said Clarkston Mayor Eric Haven.
“It’s the beginning of a long haul for the park,” said Haven, also member of the Friends of Depot Park Committee, at the Feb. 11 City Council meeting. “It’s not just a village park. It’s regional. It’s part of our identity.”
City Council authorized $5,000 to have Carlisle/Wortman Associates write an application for a $50,000 grant from the Department of Natural Resources, and an additional $1,000 for promotion of the project. For funding, $3,000 came from the Friends of Depot Park committee’s budget and $3,000 from money in the city’s park-charitable-gifts account. The grant would probably call for matching funds, so the city is fundraising for $50,000 in community donations.
“Our best option might be to apply for a grant from the DNR for ADA-compliant pathways in the park,” Haven said.
Brochures have been mailed to residents of the city, a $400 expense, and committee members have been meeting with businesses and individuals to ask for participation.
They plan to acknowledge all donations, using donors’ trademarks and logos.
“We want to thank these people and make it rewarding for them to participate with us,” he said.
The first item on their agenda is a new playscape, costing about $40,000. The Clarkston Area Optimists Club set up a Go Fund Me online campaign, “Optimists Depot Park Challenge,” to raise money for it.
“That is just one avenue to giving,” Haven said. “The playscape is part of the sequence. Our hope is this is well responded to and we raise more.”
Projects also include permanent public restrooms, amphitheater, covered pavilions, ambient lighting and sound, and a boardwalk to Middle Lake.
They’re asking for all kinds of donations including cash, stocks, bonds, in-kind materials and labor, IRA distributions, legacy life insurance, real estate, endowments, and bequests. They also need letters of endorsement, which would be sent to the DNR to show community support, he said.
“We’re up against a deadline. We’re using the month of February to raise as much as we can,” Haven said.
If the city does not receive the DNR grant, they will continue to fundraise, he said.
“We’ll move forward into pathways as soon as we can,” he said. “A grant is just an incentive. It sweetens the pot.”
The committee hosts a visioning session at Clarkston Independence District Library at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 21. For more information, call City Manager Jonathan Smith at 248-625-1559.