A new temporary community space is opening up in downtown Howell this week and is being billed as the first of its kind to make its debut in the United States.

After representing Howell and the State of Michigan at the International Placemaking Conference in Amsterdam, Howell Main Street staff brought back a unique temporary roll-out green space with them. This Pop-Up space was created in response to the community’s request to have more public green space where families felt comfortable playing, eating, and just enjoying the downtown.

The carpet will be rolled out for its debut in front of the County Courthouse tomorrow for Food Truck Tuesday attendees from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Following the food trucks, the community is invited for a Soulshine Yoga Gentle Flow class on the carpet Wednesday, July 11th at 9:30 a.m. The July debut will then wrap up with the Pop-Up Park set-up on State Street the evening of July 11th for Rock the Block.

As a community crowd-funded project that kicked off last winter, the Pop-Up Parks project was designed to create temporary, fun and flexible mobile community gathering spaces that move throughout the downtown district. Businesses and community members all provided matching funds to bring this community space to downtown Howell.

Donors include: Patrick Financial Group, L.L.C. of Brighton, Steelcase, Uptown Coffeehouse, Livingston County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Hanover Insurance Group Foundation, First Impression Print & Marketing, Steve Bearden and Gwen Haggerty-Bearden, Country Lane Flower Shop, Catherine Daniels, and other individual donors. (JK)