Three years of work have paid off in Hagar Township as the brand new Riverside Kayak Park is open to the public. Hagar Township Supervisor Izzy DiMaggio tells WSJM News the park is on Coloma Road about a quarter mile east of exit 4 from I-196. The park takes up about seven acres of 112 acres owned by the township. DiMaggio says it’s in two levels. The top has a pavilion, picnic tables, grills, and toilets. He says the lower level is the centerpiece of the park.
“A beautiful kayak launch that extends out into the Paw Paw River, and there’s about a 20 by 13 foot floating dock that leads to the launch and is a great spot for fishing,” DiMaggio said.
DiMaggio says the property used to be a landfill. Getting it transformed into a park was a long process.
“It was a major, major project. They had to cut through the debris, we had to get all of the permits from the DEQ and so forth, and there’s a 90 foot drop from the top with the upper level down to the river.”
That required all kinds of excavation. DiMaggio says Riverside Kayak Park will serve as a point along the Paw Paw River Water Trail. It’s free to get into, and he invites everyone to stop by. The park has been made possible by a $300,000 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant and $200,000 from the Hagar Township Downtown Development Authority.
