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The Benton Township Board of Trustees is moving ahead with the development of a new park.

At its regular meeting on Tuesday, the township board approved a professional services agreement with MCSA Group out of Grand Rapids for Euclid Avenue Park. The Southwest Michigan Planning Commission’s Marcy Hamilton told trustees MCSA was one of two bidders, and the firm has experience working with the Berrien County Parks Department.

The new park will be located near the intersection of Euclid and Laurel avenues behind the former Martindale Elementary School on a roughly ten acre parcel. Benton Township Supervisor Cathy Yates told us the plan orginally included a splash pad, but that’s proven too expensive.

We wanted to splash pad, but water might be a problem,” Yates said. “We do not have direct water there. And to put in a well there would probably take too much of our funds.”

And construction costs, in general, have gone up. Nevertheless, Yates says the plan calls for a playground and a pavilion.

A public meeting found nearby residents want a park in the area, and Yates says it’s a thrill to develop one.

To me, that’s a dream come true, especially for those people in that area, because I thought it was going to be really River Park, our main park, but no, the votes were all out there. When I went and looked at it, they do need that area, the children need something to do.”

Benton Township has been awarded a $1 million Spark Grant for the project. Hamilton told trustees the grant funds have to be spent by the fall of next year. Therefore, the park has to be designed, the plans approved, and the construction done by then.

Photo: Yates announces plans for the new park last summer.