EAST LANSING, Mich. — Months into the pandemic, East Lansing's Administrator of Economic Development Adam Cummins brainstormed with his team what they could do to make the cities outdoor setting more COVID friendly.
"Hey, COVID's here. It's winter. What can we do now to set us up for success in the future?" he said.
They came up with The Place Project, a plan to modify downtown spaces to allow residents to practice social distancing in style.
"We have some underutilized public spaces that we want to turn into vibrant, interesting places," Cummins said.
The project will cost $180,000; $80,000 of which was already raised through grants from the Downtown Development Authority and Lansing Board of Water and Light. The rest of the money is being raised through the crowdfunding platform Patronicity.
"The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has partnered with Patronicity," Cummins said, "and if we reach our crowd funding goal of $50,000, we'll be eligible for a dollar-to-dollar match."
The spaces that are seeing changes include:
- M.A.C. Parking Garage
- The elevated plaza at the Marriott Hotel
- Division Street Garage
- Ann Street Plaza
- Bill Sharp Park
- 500 block of Pedestrian Alley
The project will add furniture, decoration, heaters and student artwork to these locations.
To donate and find out more on this project visit: https://www.michiganbusiness.org/press-releases/2021/01/crowdfunding-campaign-launched-for-daytime.-nighttime.-anytime.-place-project-in-east-lansing/
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