More than 100 people recently found their way to Brownstown’s newest park for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Some of those involved in seeing Heritage Park come to life hope those on hand and many others continue to put the park to use in the future.

Town Council President John Nolting spoke during a brief ceremony Oct. 23 and said it seems like the park had been forever in the making, although actual construction on the 40-by-40-foot pavilion didn’t begin until the May 9 groundbreaking.

Brownstown/Ewing Main Street was involved in the project involving the former feed mill site in the 100 block of East Walnut Street across from the courthouse, Nolting said.

“They kind of got the seed there, and we kind of decided — the town board — to tear the mill down,” he said.

The town council applied for a federal grant and received $155,000 to purchase the property and demolished the two feed mill buildings and a silo.

A public meeting later held at W.R. Ewing led to several potential uses for the space, and that in turn led to a committee being formed to come up with some uses for the park, Nolting said.

That committee consists of Mike Tormoehlen, Joe Reynolds, Mary Sue Spurgeon, Margie Strange, Dick Parman, Carl Shake, Greg Grisham and David Willey. Wilma Wessel also was a member until her death Jan. 7, Nolting said.

“We had a nice green space out there,” Nolting said.

A $50,000 Place Based Investment grant from two state agencies along with a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Jackson County and donations helped fund the purchase of pavilion, which had an $81,000 price tag.

Read the full story in Thursday’s Tribune and online at tribtown.com.