The South Haven Area Recreation Authority has officially acquired the Riverwoods property, a 49-acre site located in South Haven Township along the Black River and the Kal-Haven Trail.
Authority board member Jennifer Sistrunk tells us the Riverwoods property was acquired by the DNR when a development there didn’t work out around 2012. Various DNR plans for the site also never came to fruition, and SHARA moved to purchase it last year.
“So now here we are at the finish line with our 49 acres,” Sistrunk said. “We’ve got a master plan that includes several things, including walking trails, dog parks, picnic areas, all sorts of things that are happening.”
Sistrunk says the newly-acquired property will soon be the home of the historic Nichols Bridge, a covered bridge that was once part of the Kal Haven Trail. Visit South Haven took ownership of its remnants when the DNR removed the bridge for a trail improvement project a few years ago.
“And it’s been in storage since it’s been removed. The plan is to bring that back to the site as sort of an entryway on the Riverwoods property to get to the Kal Haven Trail. So the installation of that will begin immediately.”
Financial support for the Riverwoods project has come from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, SHARA, and Visit South Haven as plans are made to develop it into a recreational space.
Sistrunk says some of the first things that will happen at the site will be the replacement of the fishing pier, the relocation of the gazebo, and the creation of a dog park. With nearly 50 acres, there are plenty of options for the site.
