By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Ortonville— The Village of Ortonville has received a grant to support the Heritage Garden space next to Old Town Hall at the corner of Mill and Church streets.
“This grant is our first step in accomplishing the Village of Ortonville’s vision for our newly designed Heritage Garden space project,” said Melanie Nivelt, Heritage Garden committee lead, village council trustee and planning commissioner. “We hope to have the lighting installed in time for the Christmas events in our downtown, thanks to the wonderful grant donation by the MML Foundation Bridge Builders Foundation.”
The plan for the park includes hard and grass surfaces for searing, patio tables, benches, a stage/pavilion, lighting and landscaping. The design for the space was unanimously approved by the village council in September.
“Our heritage garden sub-committee, alongside Rob Campbell, principal planner/preservation architect from Oakland County, have been working on this project for the past year,” said Nivelt. “I applied for this microgrant immediately and was shocked when Rachel Skylis, program officer for the foundation, notified me that we were one of the ten award recipients.”
The microgrant awarded was for $500, which will go towards lighting in the area. The check was presented at the village meeting on Monday night.
“Being a small community, we are at a disadvantage applying against larger municipalities that have grant writers on staff or have money in their budget to hire grant writers,” she said. “Our skill level and opportunities for applying can be a challenge. The $500 grant award was two-fold for me. First, it will help us with lighting and landscaping for our project, and second it has given me hope that the Village of Ortonville is on the map to be considered for future grant awards for this project. We are very appreciative and thankful.”
Formerly, the heritage garden space was a natural flower garden, full of wildflowers which became overgrown and difficult to maintain. The space will now be used as a town square to be used for events such as Christmas in the Village, Food Truck nights, and more.