| Millennium Park | |
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&sq=&lang=&file=File:Millennium_beach.jpg) The beach at Millennium Park | |
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| Type | Public park |
| Location | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Area | 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) |
Millennium Park is the largest urban park in West Michigan, located on the southwest side of Grand Rapids. Millennium Park connects four of the major cities in the area together, including Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Grandville, and Walker. When completed, the park will be twice as large as New York City's Central Park, at approximately 1,500 acres (6 km²).[1]
The project began in 1998 when the Parks Department director Roger Sabine began planning for an expansion of Johnson Park. Sabine expanded the Johnson Park expansion into the 1,500 acre (6 km²) park project. The project was finally submitted to the Secchia Millennium Commission (SMC) later that year and later approved the project by which the Kent County Board of Commissioners named the park Millennium Park. The park celebrated its grand opening in July 2004.[2]
The park is built on the former location of gypsum mines and gravel pits,[3] including the former location of the Domtar mine. About 50 pumps continue to extract petroleum in locations across the parkland.
- ^ "Kent County Millennium Park". County of Kent. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
- ^ "Millennium Park Officially Dedicated" (PDF). Green Places. Kent County Parks Department. Fall 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
- ^ "Millenium Park, Kent County, Michigan" (PDF). O’Boyle, Cowell, Blalock, & Associates, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 6, 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2011.