By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


Officials in the City of Fenton are looking to take advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to do something positive for the community and improve some focal points in the downtown area.

The Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors met virtually Tuesday night and approved a proposal for design and related architectural services for repairs and upgrade work to the gazebo area outside of City Hall, including the walking bridge over the Mill Pond spillway on the west leg of the Shiawassee River. The proposal from Spicer Group was an amount not to exceed $19,200 and includes survey work as well as preliminary and final design phases. The firm is familiar with the community and was involved in the design of the City’s Downtown Streetscape Project. There has been prior discussion at meetings about the need to address the downtown infrastructure in those areas. It was noted during the meeting that it’s a significant area of the community and what’s done there will remain for a long time so they want something everyone can be proud of that’s more functional than it is now.

Chairman Craig Schmidt commented he’s glad their taking on the project because the gazebo is at the heart of everything they do downtown and has been a fixture in the community for a long time. He noted bridge is also in need of repairs and an update but also needs to be wider.

City Manager Lynn Markland commented the bridge is too narrow and pretty sterile compared to what the environment is in the area. He said there needs to be something more aesthetically pleasing and wider, which is why the bridge was included in the project. While functional on some levels, Markland said it’s really not the type of bridge that should be in that area, again stressing it should be something a lot more aesthetically pleasing that adds to the character of that area. He noted they’re also looking at the possibility of doing something in the area in front of the gazebo. Markland said it’s bricked but is also actually a bridge that goes over the waterway there and they could potentially expand that area as well to make it look better. He added while it may have looked good when originally done, it’s past its life span as far as aesthetics in that area. Markland said they want to make improvements and do something to tie everything in to the Streetscape project, which looks great.

Since the area really isn’t being used at this time because of the COVID-19 pandemic and not hosting normal events, staff thought it would be a good time to design and hopefully build the project this fall or early spring so it could be used sometime next year for concerts. Markland said they hope to move as rapidly as they can but thinks they have a window of opportunity to be able to do something and not have to relocate functions and events.

The work will be done in phases. Preliminary drawings will be prepared and presented to the DDA and Beautification Commission for input during the design process. Once the project is designed and bid, the DDA Board will be presented with a recommendation for construction in order to proceed with the repairs and upgrades.