Downtown Buchanan takes another step toward "living streets" with grant for placemaking project

What’s happening: After several years of planning, design, and community engagement efforts, the physical reality of the Buchanan Downtown Infrastructure and Placemaking Initiative took hold in the rural southwestern Michigan community as construction crews began work this spring. The $19.4 million infrastructure project was recently bolstered by way of a $1 million RAP grant awarded to the City of Buchanan through the state’s Revitalization and Placemaking program. 

What it is: The Buchanan Downtown Infrastructure and Placemaking Initiative intends to reinvigorate the downtown community through a $19.4 million infrastructure project that covers more than 50,000 sq. ft. of real estate. A “living streets” concept is the focus of the project, allowing for flexible use of public streets and space, including widened sidewalks that make it easier and more enjoyable to shop and gather in downtown Buchanan. New amenities, activated vacant lots, community branding, improved infrastructure, and more round out the project.

Rendering courtesy of MEDC.Why it’s important: “The Buchanan Downtown Infrastructure and Placemaking Initiative is the culmination of several years of community engagement focused on investing in and preserving our central business district,” says Matt Weedon, Mayor of the City of Buchanan. “The new streetscape and public amenities will create space for community engagement with functional improvements that beautify the space and provide opportunities for flexibility of community and business use.”

Big picture: The state’s Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) program is administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, which recently approved $25 million worth of RAP grants to 64 projects in 48 communities throughout the state. Other projects awarded grants in this latest round include Chelsea’s Main Street Park Project, which intends to turn a vacant and blighted site into a new downtown park; and facade improvement projects Marquette, Ishpeming, and Negaunee.

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