Mayor George Heartwell and Downtown Development Authority Chair Brian Harris today announced the members of the community-based planning committee that will guide the historic evaluation, master planning and eventual rehabilitation of two key downtown public parks.

"Monument and Veteran's Memorial parks are the front yard for the Children's Museum, the Public Library and numerous local businesses and residences," Mayor George Heartwell said. "Rehabilitating these historic public spaces supports the ongoing revitalization of downtown and will enhance the quality of life in our city. We are thankful so many thoughtful community leaders have volunteered to help make this project successful."  

News Release:

A right lane closure for overhead sign placement will be in place Thursday, November 17th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on southbound US-131 at 36th Street.

The work is weather dependent (no rain, cold temps, etc.)

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - After one year of surveying, Calvin College biology and geography students have created an inventory and map of every tree on campus, west of the Beltline. The project began in the fall of 2010 under the direction of Calvin College biology professor Dave Warners and geography professor Jason VanHorn.

"As we start thinking about a more sustainable campus and trying to become carbon neutral, it seemed to make sense that we needed to document the trees on campus," Warners said. "In order to know how much carbon sequestration we have on campus, we have to know the number and size of trees.

The online tree map contains details of the size, species, location and age of more than 3,500 trees.

Among the summary statistics was the total number of trees (3,516), the number of species (112), the number of landscaped vs. natural trees (1138/2378) and the number of each type of tree: Norway Spruce is the most common at 305.