The Wayland Main Street program is being particularly aggressive this year about trying to attract community interest and visitors with local festivals and events.
New Director Holly McPherson presented the City Council with an extensive list of planned activities this summer, many of them musical, and city officials Monday night approved all of them.
The customary Summerfest celebration will go on as scheduled this summer, as will Concerts in the Park on four consecutive Fridays in August. They will be joined by:
- Concerts in the Street — from 4 to 10 p.m. three consecutive Wednesdays, July 12, 19 and 26, include a stage and closure of Main and Superior streets downtown.
- Sidewalk Chalk Days — from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 3, 10 and 17 in conjunction with the Friday night “After Dark” movies series for children and families.
- A centennial celebration of Baugh’s Shoe Store and Repair on South Main Street from a 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 3. It is specifically planned to honor Alan Baugh, who took over the local business his father started in 1923. A dessert truck and band will be on hand. Women of Wayland will sponsor a “Battle of the Bands” on June 3 to raise money for a sculpture in the Mini-Park dedicated to the children of Wayland that were lost too soon.
The Wayland Main Street Design Committee will coordinate a project for a mural on the west side of the Wayland firehouse about the history of Wayland.
In other business at Monday night’s meeting, the City Council:
- Agreed to the terms of a Michigan Department of Transportation grant to help pay for the street widening project this summer along Main Street south from Maple to 133rd Avenue at the south end of the city limits. Total cost of the project is $1.892 million and the city will be on the hook for $1.192 million.
- Agreed to scrap its April 3 meeting in favor of meeting instead on March 27 because of spring break absences.
- Approved renewal of the agreement between the city and the Yankee Springs Fire Department.
I’m not sure the Wednesday concert in the streets is a good idea, the DPW can barely complete their duties during normal hours. And will there be speed inforcment on the side streets do to the increase in traffic from closing down Main St and Superior St? Something the council and the main street director need to take into consideration.