Skip to Content
A digitally rendered perspective shows people tubing and kayaking down the river and large lawn areas with volleyball and a performance area.

A digitally rendered plan with labels points out important features such as the river landing, event pavilion, event lawn, etc.

A digitally rendered perspective shows the river edge with walkways, boardwalks, stone stairs, seating areas, and trees.

A digital plan view points out important elements such as the flume water feature, the river trail, and the treehouse deck.

A digital perspective shows people fishing and kayaking in the river. Up the banks is a terraced lawn, playground, cafe area, nature walk. and open air structure.

A digital plan and four sections shows typical conditions along the river's edge.

slider_arrow_left
slider_arrow_right

Grand River Corridor: A ‘River for All’

Grand Rapids, MI

Implementation plan and river trail design guidelines for the 7-mile Grand River corridor in Grand Rapids, Michigan

The City of Grand Rapids has recognized the value of the Grand River as an important natural asset through decades of planning processes. Through years of city-wide, citizen-driven planning initiatives, the community has developed a clear and widely supported vision for the future of the Grand River Corridor, transforming the river from an underutilized asset into a distinct civic amenity that delivers far-reaching regional economic, environmental, and social benefits. The forward-thinking strategy for the river corridor will create a safer waterway, protect vulnerable homes and businesses from flooding, leverage substantial private investment in new development, and revitalize the dividing river of east and west into a central gathering place for the entire community to enjoy.

Wenk Associates led a multi-disciplinary team to build upon previous planning efforts and develop design guidelines for trails, parks, and open spaces along a 7.5-mile segment of the Grand River and generate schematic designs for six new public parks along the riverfront. A robust public participation program involved residents and stakeholders spanning all quadrants of the community, ensuring that many voices were represented during the process.

The graphic-intensive design guidelines manual serves as a “menu list” to guide City staff, private developers, and decision makers in creating a cohesive river corridor trail system that is integrated into the diverse character districts along the corridor and accessible. The plan capitalizes on the future ‘rapids’ restoration efforts to expand recreation opportunities along the corridor, and provides guidance to create a connected network of diverse upland, riparian, and riverine habitat areas. Concept designs were completed on six river-adjacent opportunity sites that demonstrate how the guidelines might be implemented to create public spaces that activate the river corridor.

Project Team:
Wenk Associates – Lead Consultant, Landscape Architect
Viridis Design Group – Local Landscape Architect
Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc. (FTCH) – Civil Engineering
Williams & Works – Public Outreach
ETM Associates, LLC – Asset Management

 

Client

City of Grand Rapids, MI

Completion year

Ongoing

Related Work

View All Projects
3D illustrative bird's eye rendering of the grand central plaza space with access to the river's edge
The River Mile Redevelopment

Denver, CO

A multi-tiered plaza descends from industrial buildings to the water's edge with interspersed planting areas.
Confluence Park

Denver, CO

kids enjoy playing in the stone, slot-canyon waterfall-inspired water feature tucked into the mountain slope
Steamboat Base Area Redevelopment

Steamboat Springs, CO

Wenk Logo SVG graphic
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.