Courtesy photo A vision plan for Van Cleve Park in Gladstone created by MIG, Inc. is shown. The Gladstone Parks and Recreation Department held an informational meeting to unveil the plan and get suggestions from Gladstone residents. MIG, Inc. was hired by Visit Escanaba.

GLADSTONE — The Gladstone Parks and Recreation Department has unveiled preliminary plans for major upgrades and improvements to the Van Cleve Park.

Residents were invited to provide suggestions for the Gladstone Parks and Recreation facilities and programs, while also getting a sneak peek at a potential major upgrade to the Van Cleve Park during an informational meeting Wednesday night.

Robert Micheau of Visit Escanaba explained Visit Escanaba sponsored, on behalf of the communities of Escanaba and Gladstone, a visioning process ways to enhance both Ludington and Van Cleve Parks for its citizens and provide economic stimulus for local business.

“So we went through a strategic planning process … and the big thing that was identified that’s identified in all of the strategic plans that we all go do is the waterfront community and how we should take advantage of that.,” he said.

Micheau added Visit Escanaba worked with Pure Michigan, Destination Next and a consultant on the planning process.

“The key finding that we came up with was activating the parks, you know, they’re jewels of the community,” he said.

Visit Escanaba hired MIG, Inc. of Berkeley, Calif., to create a plan for both parks.

“They came out, they spent a week here. We had public meetings here and in Escanaba — basically working with both cities to look at planning Van Cleve and Ludington Park,” Micheau said.

Some fixtures of the Van Cleve Park plan includes moving parking and other heavily used features to other areas of the park and away from the beach, extending the size of the beach, adding a break wall along the inner edge of the beach, and adding a walkway along the break-wall that extends out to the lighthouse on one end and out into the water on the other.

Nicole Sanderson, Gladstone parks and recreation director, said they wanted to get input from Gladstone residents on the vision plan for Van Cleve Park now that MIG, Inc. created them.

During the meeting, Sanderson highlighted parts of the preliminary plan.

She explained one of the things MIG, Inc. suggested was to move the skate-park over to the area of the Kids Kingdom to create an “Adventure Area” for kids.

Another aspect to the plans Sanderson highlighted was a 3 to 4-foot break wall that would keep sand in with accessible walkways on the backside of it.

The walkway would stretch along the beach edge with the break-wall, however, it would extend to the lighthouse on one side and then extend out into the water.

“This is a floating walkway,” Sanderson said, while pointing at the portion of the walkway that extends into the lake. “And it would work well on our beach.”

Another aspect of the plan Sanderson mentioned was the expanded beach and how it could actually end up being one of the largest sand beaches in Michigan.

She noted making a bigger beach would help when water levels are high because there would still be a beach.

According to Sanderson, the department also has the equipment to maintain a bigger beach.

Although some residents voiced support for moving the parking away from the beach to have less traffic there, a majority of the comments provided by Gladstone residents at the meeting involved adding a pickleball court somewhere in Gladstone.

Sanderson explained she is always looking for input from people using the parks and facilities in Gladstone on what is needed or how to improve the Gladstone parks, facilities and programs.

The meeting had a suggestion form for residents attending to provide input on the plan or other items they’d like to see in Gladstone.

Sanderson said she’s always open to hearing input from others as it helps the department and Moving forward with improvements to Van Cleve Park would involve grant funding, Sanderson said.