A new urban snow park is coming to Hawk Island. I took some pictures today of the new snow hill that is being constructed towards the back of the park near the dog park.
I'm actually intimately involved with Hawk Island snowpark. I debated posting about it here but didn't know if you folks would be interested.
It's been an un-advertised development until only recently. We're set to open it up on December 17th.
Details;
Original plans just called for the tubing hill but the County came into a lot of free dirt and with the encouragement of Urban Snow Parks and Modern Skate and Surf the terrain park came into development.
The grading and hill were designed by Ryan Neptune. He's a champion snowboarder. He designed the halfpipe for the Winter Olympics in Vanvoucer, he's designed features for the Winter X Games and he designed O Park for the Otsego Club in Grayling, site of the US Olympic team training.
Snow guns will be able to blow snow when it's cold enough. We won't be reliant on only the snow that mother nature sends. The hill will also be lighted for night time riding. I think we're looking at hours extending to 9pm last I heard.
There will be two tow ropes. One side servicing the tubing hill and the other rope servicing the snowboarding/skiing.
Lift tickets are $7/day for either side or $20/family of four. Season passes are being discussed but there's no price set yet.
The tubing side was funded by grant money but the terrain park is reliant on sponsors and donors. We (Hawk Island Action Sports Operational Committee, HIASOC) are working with the Friends of Ingham County and Urban Snow Parks to make this hill world class, developing sponsorship and building a learning academy for new riders.
Just as an FYI, the building at Marshall in Michigan is now under construction. As of yesterday the first floor looks complete, my only complaint is that it is a wood structure, but I pretty much expected that.
I was by there the other day, myself. Wood is almost always used unless we're talking a really big office or mixed-use building. Smaller residential buildings like this don't make enough money back fast enough to justify a steel frame. That said, I was kind of surprised it wasn't a concrete frame.
A Michigan Indian tribe today launched a preemptive attack against plans for a major off-reservation casino said to be in the works for downtown Lansing.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is working with Lansing officials on plans for a major casino to be built on Michigan Avenue next to the Lansing Center convention facility. The proposal will be announced next week and is supported by Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, according to a person familiar with discussions about the plans.
The person, who spoke on condition he not be identified because he didn't have authority to reveal details of the plans, said Lansing and its public school district would use the city's share of revenue from the casino to pay for four-year college scholarships to any public university in Michigan for any student who graduates from the Lansing School District.
When they say "next to the Lansing Center" the only place this would be possible is behind it on the parking lots if this ever comes to fruition. Looks a bit small, but maybe it's more land than it looks. Anyway, Schuette pretty much says that he's against all casino gambling in general (as if his personal belief system is supposed to matter as the state AG), so even if this passes the other many obstacles that could stop this, he'd probably sue the city and have this in court for years on end.
The last I read they planned on building a temporary casino at Cedar and Michigan, once a permanent casino was built the temporary one would become part of the Lansing Center. With that being said, I doubt a casino in Lansing will happen anytime in the near future, although I still support the idea myself.
Comments
It's been an un-advertised development until only recently. We're set to open it up on December 17th.
Details;
Original plans just called for the tubing hill but the County came into a lot of free dirt and with the encouragement of Urban Snow Parks and Modern Skate and Surf the terrain park came into development.
The grading and hill were designed by Ryan Neptune. He's a champion snowboarder. He designed the halfpipe for the Winter Olympics in Vanvoucer, he's designed features for the Winter X Games and he designed O Park for the Otsego Club in Grayling, site of the US Olympic team training.
Snow guns will be able to blow snow when it's cold enough. We won't be reliant on only the snow that mother nature sends. The hill will also be lighted for night time riding. I think we're looking at hours extending to 9pm last I heard.
There will be two tow ropes. One side servicing the tubing hill and the other rope servicing the snowboarding/skiing.
Lift tickets are $7/day for either side or $20/family of four. Season passes are being discussed but there's no price set yet.
The tubing side was funded by grant money but the terrain park is reliant on sponsors and donors. We (Hawk Island Action Sports Operational Committee, HIASOC) are working with the Friends of Ingham County and Urban Snow Parks to make this hill world class, developing sponsorship and building a learning academy for new riders.
Here's our facebook page
When they say "next to the Lansing Center" the only place this would be possible is behind it on the parking lots if this ever comes to fruition. Looks a bit small, but maybe it's more land than it looks. Anyway, Schuette pretty much says that he's against all casino gambling in general (as if his personal belief system is supposed to matter as the state AG), so even if this passes the other many obstacles that could stop this, he'd probably sue the city and have this in court for years on end.