MLK Recreation Center to get playground upgrade in Jackson

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Jackson’s Martin Luther King Recreation Center will see significant changes to the playground after the city received a grant.

City officials say it has been awarded $663,600 from the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF)/Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Spark Grant Program partnership. The money will be used to add additional playground equipment to the center’s property as well as a new pavilion.

A news release from the city of Jackson identified the center and project as follows:

…the MLK Recreation Center is a popular gathering place for the community. The park outside the center, the Howard Woods Recreation Complex, features a basketball court, ball fields, community garden, playground and pavilion. Grant funds will be used to expand the current playground and fully replace the existing pavilion. The new playground equipment will be accessible to people with disabilities and contain adult exercise equipment.

News Release, City of Jackson, July 17, 2024

“We are excited to receive this funding and use it to realize our community’s vision to enhance our community recreational experience,” said Parks and Recreation Director Kelli Hoover in the news release. “I am grateful for everyone’s ideas, input and effort that got us to this point, and I am confident that these developments will pay huge dividends for our community for generations to come.”

City officials say the projects in Jackson are one of 39 community projects awarded a total of $24.2 million in grants from CMF/DNR Spark Grant Program. The funding was the result of “American Rescue Plan Act funds to power the program, organizers say the initiative was established to provide expanded access to recreation facilities for historically under-resourced communities. Resident engagement was a big part of the grant process, with the City of Jackson and Jackson Community Foundation holding a neighborhood meeting on the proposed project last fall to understand resident needs,” city officials reported in a news release.

The construction for the improvements are expected to being fall of this year or early next year, officials said in the news release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.