“The Christmas Song” text about Jack Frost nibbling your nose and people gathered around a fire dressed like Eskimos come to life in Downtown Bay City this winter.
Thanks to a $ 100,000 grant from the Bay Area Community Foundation’s Healthy Living Fund, two fireplaces will be installed in downtown Bay City this month, and a third fireplace will arrive before spring.
“It will be a downtown attraction,” said Trevor Keyes, President and CEO of Bay Future Inc. “It will allow people to relax longer in the season and outside for longer periods.”
The Healthy Living Fund focuses on projects that promote community recovery, Keyes says. Diane Fong, President and CEO of the Bay Area Community Foundation, explains the fund.
“The Healthy Living Fund was established through a $ 1 million donation from the Dow Corning Foundation that served as the keystone to a 37-year legacy of community welfare and quality education programs in the region donate, ”says Fong.
“We believe this final act of Dow Corning generosity will create a sense of community when people gather and chat by the fireplace.”
Bay Future, the Downtown Development Authority and the Downtown Management Board have jointly applied for the grant. Serenus Johnson Construction builds the chimneys.
The first two chimneys will be on the northwest corner of Center Avenue and Washington Avenue and the northeast corner of Center Avenue and Water Streets.
A third fireplace is planned near the waterfall park on Third and Water Streets, but work won’t begin until construction of a nearby store is completed, says Michael Bacigalupo, chairman of the downtown management board and vice chairman of downtown Development Authority.
The first two chimneys are expected to be operational just in time for Santa’s arrival on November 26th at Wenonah Park. Weather conditions will dictate when the third will be installed, but Bacigalupo expects it to be installed before spring.
Once inside, the fireplaces provide year-round entertainment. Visitors simply turn on a timer and flames rise in the gas-powered chimneys. When the timer expires, anyone sitting nearby can turn it on again.
Seating nearby ensures that you can enjoy the warmth when visiting with friends or shopping, even on cold winter days.
“Michigan called itself a water and winter wonderland,” recalls Keyes.
“We’re doing a really good job here in the water wonderland in the summer. We need to start doing more things that are inclusive for everyone who comes here and for the people who live here, for all four seasons. “
Bill Woolwine, President of Serenus Johnson Construction, says his team is excited about the project. You pour the concrete and coordinate all of the different parts that help make the fireplaces attractive, functional and safe.
“It’s pretty tangled,” says Woolwine.
“We like a good challenge. We like to be a part of everything that happens in Downtown Bay City, of course, because this is obviously our home. Since I’ve been in Bay City since 1919, it’s certainly nice to put a stamp on the projects in the city center. “
Keyes points out that the chimneys make downtown visiting all winter more attractive. Already now, people visit other resort communities in Michigan, like Traverse City, year round. Tourism is not just a summer phenomenon. The fireplaces are a step in drawing people into this community year-round, he says.
“I think there are a lot of people who will have a lot of joy and joy in this new attraction that our community has got,” says Keyes.
“The Healthy Living Fund was established through a $ 1 million donation from the Dow Corning Foundation, which served as the keystone to a 37-year legacy of donating programs that promote community welfare and quality in the area Promoted education, ”said Diane Fong, President and CEO of the Bay Area Community Foundation.
“We believe this final act of Dow Corning generosity will create a sense of community when people gather and chat by the fireplace.”
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