With the help of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Tecumseh Park bathrooms will be renovated using a Recreation Passport grant. This $75,000 grant will help install new bathrooms in the existing building.

“This grant uses the fees paid from license plates,” said City Manager Dan Swallow. “That way we are receiving funds from all over the community and the state.”

Originally, the city had plans to demolish the current bathroom building in the park and replace it with a prefabricated model in 2017 when they first received the grant. However, the general public expressed wishes to keep the original building and refurbish it rather than destroying it. The city manager and the DNR then created new plans to renovate the bathrooms, including new single-occupant bathrooms with easy access for both male and female uses.

“Easy access was one of our main concerns with the project,” Swallow added.

Krieghoff of Lenawee, as project manager, has been working with the city and inviting proposals from various contractors for the various aspects of this project, including the masonry and the plumbing and heating. The city council recently voted to approve bids for the work from S.A. Storer and Sons and Blissfield Heating and Plumbing, respectively.

Electrical work within the building is set to start in mid-February, followed by concrete work in order to place plumbing under the building. Swallow hopes that this project will be completed by mid-summer of 2020.

In addition to the bathhouse project, the city manager hopes to continue the expansion of the Kiwanis Trail into Tecumseh. This expansion has been in the works for many years to connect Tecumseh with the city of Adrian. The trail currently ends at Green Highway and Ives Road, just south of the city. One Lenawee and Connecting Lenawee, two non-profit groups, have been working with both cities to expand the trail in hopes of connecting the two communities.

A resolution to expand the last mile and a half of the trail was approved by the Adrian City Commission in 2017, but the easement agreements with property owners have been slow moving. The trail, as planned, would cut through some private property rather than following the main roads directly. This will provide a more scenic route and give a safer buffer between trail-goers and cars on the road.

This project also requires a large amount of fundraising on behalf of the city of Tecumseh, which also contributed to its delay.

“We received a $300,000 trust fund grant through the DNR for the trail,” Swallow said. “However, we have to match that by 25%. That’s a large amount.”

Swallow is hoping to use a crowdfunding campaign in conjunction with the city of Adrian to raise the funds, as well as reaching out to Tecumseh-based foundations.

With both of these projects, the city manager and the department of parks and recreation hope to give a new look to the Tecumseh Park and connect the city of Tecumseh with other communities. The new bathrooms will give a modern look to the park with easy access for all visitors, while the Kiwanis trail provides potential for new exploration and walking opportunity in the city.

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