From Parks to Campgrounds, Part 3

A southern U.P. outdoor spot right along the water is turning brown space into green space.

And it’s becoming friendlier to fishermen as well.

UGN’s Lindsey Cramer takes us to Van Cleve Park in Gladstone.

The park is adding $350,000 worth of improvements.

And the best part?

The work won’t cost the city anything.

They’ve been awarded grants from both the DNR Natural Resources Trust Fund and the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust.

City Parks & Recreation Director Nicole Sanderson says the 2 agencies gave the city permission to pair up the grants.

Each grant will serve as the matching funds that the other grant requires the city to have.

The city first started pairing grants together to build its fishing pier.

Upgrades include adding a restroom and a fish-cleaning station, as well as dressing up a Coast Guard navigation beacon to make it look like a lighthouse.

They’re also adding more parking and landscaping.

Bays De Noc Visitors Bureau Director Steve Masters says this is just the sort of thing that’ll drive more visitors, and more money, into the Bays.

The changes for this year are just part of the city’s plan for the park.

After Phase 1, they hope to do harbor renovations, more park improvements and improve accessibility for walkways.

Tomorrow, in the final part of her series, Lindsey will take you to the Millie Mine bat-viewing site in Iron Mountain, where some different upgrades will also be happening.