Rachel Walls, of Eastpointe, visits the Recreation Authority of Roseville and Eastpointe in Roseville March 7 and writes down her suggestions for ways to improve local parks as the cities and authority create a five-year recreation master plan. Walls suggested a splash pad for Kennedy Park in Eastpointe.

Rachel Walls, of Eastpointe, visits the Recreation Authority of Roseville and Eastpointe in Roseville March 7 and writes down her suggestions for ways to improve local parks as the cities and authority create a five-year recreation master plan. Walls suggested a splash pad for Kennedy Park in Eastpointe.

Photos by Patricia O’Blenes

Eastpointe, Roseville resident input sought for Joint Parks and Recreation Master Plan

By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published March 12, 2024

Recreation Authority of Roseville and Eastpointe Executive Director Tony Lipinski encourages residents to stop by the RARE building or the lobbies of the Eastpointe and Roseville city halls to offer their suggestions for the cities’ five-year Joint Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Maps of the parks and spaces to write suggestions are posted in all three locations.

Recreation Authority of Roseville and Eastpointe Executive Director Tony Lipinski encourages residents to stop by the RARE building or the lobbies of the Eastpointe and Roseville city halls to offer their suggestions for the cities’ five-year Joint Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Maps of the parks and spaces to write suggestions are posted in all three locations.

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EASTPOINTE/ROSEVILLE — Officials are in the process of updating the Recreation Authority of Roseville and Eastpointe’s Joint Parks and Recreation Master Plan.

The joint plan helps upgrade the cities’ parks, recreation amenities, programs and services. Officials from both cities are seeking input from the residents on the five-year master plan. RARE currently has a master plan on file from 2020.

“This is just updating it,” RARE Executive Director Tony Lipinski said. 

Lipinski is working with officials from Roseville and Eastpointe on the project, and community input is an important part of the process. The feedback is used to help guide decisions and to better understand residents’ needs and desires. From there, city employees apply to the state for various grants to fund the updates.

To help with the process, city officials have displayed large maps of the cities’ parks and asked residents to write what they like about that particular park, what they don’t like, and what they would like to see in the future.  

The maps are up in the lobbies of the RARE building, located at 18185 Sycamore St. in Roseville; Roseville City Hall, located at 29777 Gratiot Ave.; and Eastpointe City Hall, located at 23200 Gratiot Ave. 

Residents are encouraged to write down their ideas in the spaces provided. The completion of the plan will allow both cities and RARE to remain eligible for state and federal agency grant funding. The maps will remain up until April 28. 

In January, officials from both cities met to begin discussion on the five-year joint master plan. At that time, the consulting firm Spalding DeDecker — based in Detroit — was contracted to provide professional planning services for the five-year joint recreation master plan. 

“We responded to the Request for Proposals released in December 2023, excited to work with the administration, staff, and citizens of RARE, Eastpointe, and Roseville to create a long-term and sustainable vision for their parks,” Spalding DeDecker Planning Manager Cassi Meitl said via email. “We are urban, community, and recreation planners, landscape architects, and civil engineers passionate about helping communities succeed.”

Once all the feedback from residents is collected, Spalding DeDecker will combine and summarize the input, and then the firm will review the suggestions with RARE, Eastpointe and Roseville representatives. 

“We might use the ideas as a basis for public input sessions held later this year and they will be considered as each organization develops goals, objectives, and the action plan for the next five years and beyond,” Meitl said. “The suggestions will also be included in the report as part of the community input summary.” 

There are eight parks in Eastpointe: Spindler, Kennedy, Goetz, Shamrock, Roxana, Fairlane, Rein and Memorial; and eight in Roseville: Huron, Veterans Memorial, Dooley, Rotary, Macomb Gardens, Packard, Kiwanis and Lions.

A handful of residents have already made several recommendations. Splash pads, walking paths and pools seem to be the most popular suggestions thus far. Other requests include restrooms, additional parking spots, pickleball courts, new playground equipment, basketball courts and new pavilions.  

At Kennedy Park, for instance, someone recommended that the hockey rink be removed. Another resident would like to see the preschool program return to Spindler Park. 

Public hearings on the master plan will be held at RARE board meetings and city council meetings later in the year. Notices will be posted for these public hearings. Residents should also look for notifications about a public opinion survey, accessible via QR code, in June, July and August. 

“Once the plan is done and submitted to the state, then we’re eligible to apply for grants,” Lipinski said. “We’re hopeful (to receive grants), and that’s why we have to prioritize the projects.”

RARE does not maintain the parks in either city, so each city will have to apply for its own grants. To be eligible for various state grants, a community must either have an approved five-year plan on file with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in the MiGrants online system by Feb. 1 of the year it intends to apply, or submit a capital improvement plan with its application.

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