A year-round farmers’ market called Market + The Graham will be constructed this year.
By: Mary Beth Almond | Rochester Post | Published January 8, 2025
ROCHESTER — The year 2025 will be a busy one for the city of Rochester, according to Mayor Nancy Salvia.
At the top of the 2025 to-do list are three large projects in the city.
“These don’t happen overnight, so 2025 is really the implementation of three big projects,” Salvia said. “They are all city-owned, city-led projects.”
The modernization and expansion of The Community House is slated to start in 2025. Nestled in the Rochester Municipal Park at 816 Ludlow, the Rochester Community House is a private, nonprofit organization that has opened its doors to the public, receiving its operating revenue from donations, enrichment classes, building rentals and fundraisers since 1975.
Over 45 years later, the Community House serves thousands of residents and businesses annually through its support of local nonprofits, enrichment and education classes, and room rentals for weddings, reunions, fundraisers, business functions and other events.
“Twenty-eight nonprofits now use the building, either weekly or once or twice a year, so we just keep getting more of them, which is great,” Community House Director Alan Smith said.
The goal of The Community House’s renovation, city officials said, is to improve the appearance and useability, and to make the building as maintenance-free as possible for the foreseeable future. Plans call for the northern portion of the building to be removed and replaced with a much larger conference and gathering space, an improved lookout meeting room to the east, and a walk-out basement space with a second kitchen. The south end of the building would get new decking and siding, a roof, and other improvements.
“We will probably start construction in early spring — as soon as we can,” Salvia added.
The city will welcome a year-round farmers’ market with a community gathering space in 2025 via a project called Market + The Graham.
“Right now, demolition is taking place on the inside of the Graham building,” Salvia shared.
The reimagined space — which includes the existing farmers’ market lot at the corner of Third and Water and the former Animal Emergency Center Building, 265 E. Second Street — will include a performance stage, expanded indoor/outdoor market spaces, ADA accessibility, restrooms, seating and landscaping. The Graham name is a tribute to the first settlers of Rochester, the James Graham family, who settled in the city in 1817. City officials said The Graham will celebrate Rochester’s rich farming history through a display of photos, artifacts and implements inside the revamped animal hospital, which will be used for a year-round farmers market and event space. The goal is to complete the project by the summer.
The Rochester City Council also recently approved $500,000 for a skate park in its 2025 fiscal budget, which began July 1, 2024. The Greater Rochester Skate Park Leadership Advisory Team, or SPLAT, has been working to secure a skate park in the city since 2013 following the closing of the former indoor South Street Skatepark. South Street Skateshop owners Von and Linda Gallaher and former Rochester Mayor Cathy Daldin have been at the helm, urging the City Council to provide a dedicated environment for skateboarders that they say would help foster a sense of community and belonging among youth. Preliminary plans include an above-ground “plaza-style” skate park to be built in the grassy area just north of the baseball diamond at Scott Street Park, located at 580 Woodward. A community visioning session will be held via Zoom once the city hires a company to design and build the project. Construction will likely begin in early spring and city officials are hoping for a summer dedication.
“This summer we’re going to have a fun place to hangout and do skateboard tricks,” Salvia said. “It’s gonna be great.”
Another large project will involve working to restore a portion of the Clinton River Trail that was wiped out by torrential rainfall in July 2024. The city closed the trailhead between Dequindre Road and Letica Drive, near mile marker 1/2, immediately after Salvia said it “washed out completely,” creating a 100-foot-long, 12-foot-deep gap that has affected trail access and impacted the nearby heron rookery.
“Right now, from a trail standpoint, we are disconnected from Macomb County, which doesn’t feel good to have that disconnection in our trail way system. We all love our trails,” Salvia said.
City officials estimate the cost to be around $4 million to repair the trail. The city of Rochester, Oakland County, Friends of the Clinton River Trail, and several other entities are working on repairs and encouraging members of the public to donate to the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester with funds designated for the “FCRT Washout.” A link is available on the trail’s website at clintonrivertrail.org.
“When the city has a $17 million annual budget, a $4 million trail washout is a big deal,” Salvia noted.
Every contribution counts toward the multi-million-dollar effort to rebuild and preserve the Clinton River Trail.
“This is going to take a village to raise this money,” Salvia said.
At press time, the area was still closed to the public. Detour maps are posted on the city of Rochester’s website.
Leaning into partnerships is another big part of 2025 for the city, according to Salvia.
“We’re a small town. We can’t do what we do without our partners, like Oakland County. Oakland University, our trails, and SEMCOG. We’re really leaning into those partners,” she added.
For more information, visit www.ci.rochester.mi.us or call the city (248) 733-3700.