Landscape Students Dream of Northport Pathway

Northport and Omena, Michigan in the Leelanau Peninsula, invited students from the Michigan State University’s School of Landscape Architecture and Design to create conceptual drawings of how those villages might look in the future.

Sixty-six people attended a public input session to consider those concepts. One of the more popular and feasible designs was to develop a hiking and biking pathway from Northport to the Braman Hill Recreational Area, a distance of about half a mile. The village owns all of that property, so building a pathway there is a real possibility.

Students were told to create designs with no cost limitation- to dream big. The designs can be viewed at the Leelanau Township Community Foundation web site (see link below). The files are large and take a while to load. They include:

• New Course: improvement of steetscapes and pedestrian access throughout the village
• Mystic Northport: includes pathways, boardwalks, other streetscapes and elements on the waterfront, and a connection to Braman Hill
• Fresh Air: parks, gardens, and an in-town trail system
• Navigationg Northport: Upgrades to downtown, the marina, Mill Pond, more bike pathways, and a series of winding trails connecting to Braman Hill
• Effects: streetscapes, revitalized buildings, marina improvements, and another option to connect to Braman Hill via boardwalks

The Small Town Design program in East Lansing will put together a final plan that will be unveiled on May 20. Paul Rothaug, a member of the foundation's future design committee, said that they will see how the ideas might be implemented. They will begin by focusing on one topic, such as the walkway to Braman Hill, and hold a public meeting to discuss how it could be built.

The next meeting with these final design presentations will be held at Northport School on May 20, 2008.

from the Leelanau Enterprise, "Ideas for Northport's future shared", Jan 22, 2008
See Leelanau Township Community Foundation
These links are checked on the date of the article. As the article ages, some links may become invalid

Go To www.getoffthecouchnews.blogspot.com for all the news
See Get Off The Couch