www.newbuffalotimes.com
10 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
M
Open house highlights potential Harbert improvements BY FRANCESCA SAGALA
embers of the public gave their input on Harbert’s future in terms of its overall aesthetic at an open house at Harbert Community Park Wednesday, Sept. 15. Eric Neagu, principal at Antero Group, said that the “look and feel” of Harbert was being looked into in the “context of three different projects that are going to be interrelated”: the nonmotorized path that’s part of the Berrien County Road Department’s current project to reconstruct Red Arrow Highway from Main Drive to Sawyer Road, which will be on the lake side of the highway and will end at Harbert Community Park (grading for the path will continue to Sawyer Road so it can be put in there in the future); the Park Board’s work on redesigning Harbert Community Park; and the streetscape of Harbert. “We want these all to feed off one another as we progress,” Neagu said. Neagu said the streetscape will create a “real feel for Harbert - one that’s very appropriate for Harbert that captures the existing character and values of it but also projecting a new sensibility to Harbert.” After input from members of the Park Board, elected officials and some residents, Neagu said Antero Group came up with three design concepts. After gaining feedback on each concept, Neagu said they’ll come back with a more detailed design, which will address where furniture and lighting will be located as well as parking. Neagu added that he also hopes to incorporate some of Harbert’s interesting history into the streetscape, maybe with historic interpretive signage. Neagu, who sits on the Harbor Country Chamber Board of Directors, said he also hopes the redesign will prompt more economic growth in the region and turn it into an “active four-season community instead of just a summer community.” Neagu said lots of federal funding is coming out – which, for the first time, is being earmarked toward tourism and the service industry. “Historically, the federal government didn’t see that as viable industry, but I think since we lost so much staffing and restaurants they said, ‘Wait a second, our country really does need that service industry to be supported…’ We’re optimistic that with some strategies that we got, we’ll be able to identify some funding sources that we’ll be able to help realize this,” he said.
Liz Dafoe of Upland Design (which is working with Antero on the project) said that all three concepts “incorporate all natural earth tone colors” with some variations. Concept A “plays off” the woodland and the greens from the trees and utilizes wood or recycled lumber in the site furniture. Concept B focuses more on the rivers and lake, incorporating some cobblestones and natural rocks as well as dark black metals with some gray pavers and black accents. Concept C has a more modern touch, with Corten steel (some of it being used in the lighting) and copper and pops of color. The survey and concepts can be viewed at www.chikamingtownship.org.
N
eagu said the streetscape will be focused on the east side of the highway and will connect the township facilities to the park and businesses along the way, with crosswalks and potentially nodes on the other side of the road and possibly lighting to “create some symmetries.” Neagu said that sustainability may also be incorporated into the design, such as rain gardens and permeable pavers. The Road Department just reconstructed the highway during the Red Arrow Highway/Union Pier Corridor Improvement Project, with a new streetscape being introduced to downtown Union Pier. Chikaming Township Supervisor David Bunte said that the streetscape in Harbert will have some similarities to Union Pier while still retaining its uniqueness. He added that downtown Sawyer is up next for a redesign. “We want to try to do a bit of consistency – it may be in branding, it may be in signage, which may be in a certain element that it’s all Chikaming Township, but we want each one to have its own character because they all have their own character,” he said. The Road Department will be tackling a part of the highway in Lakeside next year. “That’s what we’re trying to do: Improve our infrastructure, take advantage of the funding that may be available and take advantage of what’s going on with the Road Department and what they’re doing with Red Arrow Highway and make it a benefit for us as opposed to a negative,” he said.
Chikaming Township Supervisor David Bunte passes out surveys to guests
Members of the public view the design concepts at Harbert Community Park
Eric Neagu of Antero Group speaks to the crowd as Liz Dafoe looks on
Members of the public view the charettes at Harbert Community Park
