Adrian Mayor Angie was our program today. She is also the new Director of the Adrian Community Preschool Nursery! The nursery, she said, was income-based. They have a fulltime bilingual teacher on staff. She replaces Kristen Howard who had been director for the past 13 years. Education, she said, has always been a passion of hers. She showed a nice video of the nursery.
She then told us about the exciting things going on in our city. Here are some highlights:
- The city hired Jeremiah Davies as their new Director of Parks and Recreation the end of 2021. He will be submitting a Master Plan so that the city can qualify for grant funding moving forward.
- This coming spring or early summer there will be pickleball courts at Riverside Park
- A splash pad will be going into Parish Park
- Bohn Pool - Opened late last year. It was closed for some time due to leaks and flooding. A feasibility study will be conducted which will determine its fate. They will consider either moving it to higher ground, will it become an aquatic center with and outdoor component, will it be relocated to a different spot, do we keep it where it is, etc.
- A lot of new development is being done. For instance – the $11M project at the old Hammerman Building
- The Adrian Mall has a new owner which may be the future site for storage units, apartments, a church at the former Elder Beerman store, small stores with outdoor entrances, more green space, etc.
- There has been interest in the former Garden State Tanning building near the industrial Park and Church of the Nazareen and something will be going in.
- The site where the old Telegram building is will become middle to upper end housing units which will be 3-4 stories.
- The old Roberts Jewelry store next to Maiden Lane belongs to the city’s Land Bank. It is disintegrating, Angie said, but they have placed graphics in the window. They are trying to market it. The Mayor was hopeful that the City Commission will pass an ordinance in the future to make vacant building owners throughout the area to conform to blight requirements.
- A microbrewery (Grand River Brewery) is due to move into the former Seasons building on South Main Street.
- Cotton Brewery will be moving it’s operation from Oak Street on the east side to the former Powerhouse Gym site and with a saloon-like theme/décor.