Three Rivers City Commissioners adopted a resolution Tuesday in support of a grant application to improve Elbert L. Foster Park, located at Broadway and Fourth Street. If granted, funds would be used for “a paved parking lot, playground equipment, and a sidewalk connecting the parking and playground.” Site plans also include a future shelter with picnic tables and a set of swings.

The grant application, to be submitted to the Recreational Passport Grant Program through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, requests $150,000, with a 25% match provided by the city of $37,500, for a total project cost of $187,500. Because the grant money will be awarded in December of 2024, the matched funds would come from a future fiscal year’s budget.

Three Rivers Mayor Tom Lowry said, “Anything we can do to help out that park, I’m 100% behind it.”

Deborah Haak-Frost is the Caretaker for Community Engagement at GilChrist Retreat Center in Three Rivers, and volunteers with *culture is not optional, a Three Rivers-based community development organization.