New park offers something for everyone

The following article was written by CHS Journalism Student, Lizzie Whitney.

Walking down town, you hear the crowd cheering, you run to see what’s going on. You get down there and there is a band playing in the band shell. You can hear the band miles and miles away. There are people all around them, sitting on there new grass and watching the new park just hop with people. The new East Park is opened, and so is all of the amenities that come with the new park.
Many things are going on this summer down town, and the new park is one of the few things that will be a tourist attraction. They built the new park from scratch. For the boaters, there are 75 new slips. For the relaxers, there are many picnic tables, that you can just sit and watch the boats come in or even read a good book. For the music people, there is new place were you can sit and enjoy the nice calming band in the band shell.
I cant forget the kids! There is a 30’ diameter Charlevoix of Youth Fountain. Around this fountain, kids can play in the shooting water or they can just sit and listen to music. The fountain even shoots up an arrangement of different colors. Which, just makes the children boost with energy. It also can be a relaxing time for parents as well. Parents can just sit down and watch their kids play. What’s better than that, when your parent?
For the fisherman out there, that like to see the trout swim. There is a new Trout habitat, where people can just look and see what the fish will do next. It is a full trout ecosystem. The habitat is designed to replicate the conditions found in a northern Michigan trout stream. Fifty trout were planted in the stream on May 15, 2009 to make the occasion official.
The cost of the New park was roughly around $13 million dollars. Organizations donated money the DDA donated $6.9 million. The DDA is the Downtown Development Authority, there the ones who made most of the new park happen. $6.2 million dollars was from the Michigan Waterways Commission.
Many people were against this operation to rebuild the new park, but now most of the people have changed there minds. The fountain, the trout stream, the new band shell, and the new picnic tables, are just few of the big renovations in the new park. This summer, everyone is hoping that the new park will be the next big tourist attraction. Now, go have a picnic. Go look at the trout stream. Just go and have fun at the new park in downtown Charlevoix.