Ten years after the initiative began, the Ottawa County Parks & Recreation Commission has finally acquired the 100-acre parcel of land that stretches 1,100 feet along the Grand River, located between the southern border of Grand Valley State University and the 68-acre spacious land at Fillmore at the Bend.

The new property, when combined with the open-space land, will comprise the future site of the Grand River Ravines county park.

Curt TerHaar, coordinator of park and planning development at the Ottawa County Parks & Recreation Commission, said the first grant for the space was applied for nearly a decade ago, when the landowner decided not to sell and shut down the operation.

In spring of 2009, the commission applied for a $600,000 grant that was approved in 2010 by the state legislature through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. Ottawa County bought the land for $1.69 million over a four-year span.

TerHaar said the commission does not currently know when the park will be ready for use, but he expects a minimum of two years.

“We’ll go through the planning process. And we don’t have as many funds as we would like elevated for that right now, so we’ll probably have to apply for some grants to do the construction. So that’s probably two or three years out,” TerHaar said. “Probably longer, but two or three years at the earliest. “

Grand River Ravines county park would be an important node for the Grand River Greenway Trail, which is Ottawa County’s long-range plan to establish a connected network of park and open space lands along the Grand River, Pigeon River and Macatawa River corridors and along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

“This site has been studied and it’s one of the more important and diverse ecological sites in the county, and it’s just quite spectacular. It’s a beautiful spot,” he said .

Beauty aside, there was a strategic element in buying the land. TerHaar said the county saw a need for more open space in the location, which bumps up against GVSU’s territory and surrounds itself with growing townships nearby.

The park is still in its early stages of planning, and though TerHaar said a discussion will take place later this fall where more specific ideas will be pinned down for the future of Grand River Ravines county park, the commission has some ideas as of what they would like to see there.

“Of course hiking trails, “ he said. “We also have a nice piece of the Grand River frontage there, so we’re thinking it could be a spot for canoe or kayak activities.”

Aside from the classic biking, hiking and walking, TerHaar said the commission is throwing around some more “out of the box” ideas for the Grand River Ravines that include the possibility of a zip line that would go through the ravines.

“The ravines are kind of a unique and interesting feature in Ottawa County,” he said. “Ottawa County is so flat – we have the dunes along Lake Michigan, but the ravines are kind of the most picturesque place we have.”

[email protected]