The Saline Reporter
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CARES fund boosts Henne Field
Plan to redesign field receives a $207,000 grant
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2007
A re-imagined and redeveloped Henne Field is now another step closer to reality after receiving a grant from the CARES millage.
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Announcements regarding grants from the CARES (Cultural Arts, Recreation, Enrichment, Senior) Discretionary Fund were made last week. A total of $258,309 in grants were distributed to six different projects, with the Henne Field redevelopment receiving more than $207,000.
"Without CARES, there wouldn't be a Henne Field project," said redevelopment committee member David Rhoads. "I'm very happy with where we are."
Where the project is right now is on the verge of finalizing a design for the eight-acre site, located north of the Union School building in Saline.
"We're currently looking at our plan," said Saline Community Education Director Scot Graden, also a member of the committee. The plan is now in its third revision, he said, and could be finalized within the next few weeks.
"But we've still got a ways to go before we've got the backhoes out there," Graden said, noting that the groundbreaking could occur either late this year or early 2008.
Once complete, the new-and-improved Henne Field will offer Saline a number of benefits, Rhoads said. In addition to plenty of open green space, the park will feature multiple youth baseball fields, a walking/jogging trail, a playground, and possibly other features such as a sledding hill or an area for community events, including arts-and-crafts shows.
The walking-distance proximity of Henne Field to Saline's downtown should encourage plenty of activity in both areas, Rhoads said.
"It's going to bring people together," he said. "It's going to bring people into downtown, and be a place where folks can enjoy activities with their families."
The grant is the second one awarded to the Henne Field project out of CARES funding, bringing the project's total to more than $400,000.
It's an excellent start, Graden said, but with the final cost for the redevelopment expected to be at least twice that total and possibly as much as $1 million, the project will have to rely on other sources of funding.
"We're going to pursue other school grants and talk with other local foundations," he said. "We're looking at it from two ends: We're both raising revenue and trying to revise the plan to lower costs … We're going to get down to our grassroots."
Graden said once a final design is approved, the project will be able to show that design as part of potential grant applications. It also will enable the committee to discuss the impact of the redevelopment with the neighbors surrounding of Henne Field.
No matter how the necessary funds are procured, it now seems certain that what Rhoads called a "personal vision" of Henne Field and its impact on Saline will at some point be realized.
"It's in need of attention. It's underdeveloped," Graden said. "But what we're going to do is draw people in."
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