POCKET PARK TAKES SHAPE WITH DRAGON
Baldwin Road park expected to be finished by end ofmonth
It was a big day at the pocket park under construction on Baldwin Road, just north of the I-75 interchange, on Wednesday.
A monstrously large dragon’s head was attached to the play structure’s bright green body by a crew of workers.
“When it’s finished, kids can go up through the tail, the mouth is the slide, both wings have climbing features so they can climb up the wings and into the side of the body,’’ said Jenny
Bhatti, special assistant to the Orion Township supervisor.
The pocket park is just a part of the development along Baldwin Road which has been widened.
“We added the roundabouts, we added safety paths on both sides of the road along with the pedestrian lighting. We want to make it a walkable, bikable corridor,’’ Bhatti said. “We’re getting new businesses in there, we want to make it an area where people do go walk, ride their bikes, hang out.’’
The park was made possible with a $65,000 grant through KaBOOM (a charitable organization that builds playgrounds in locations all over the United States) funded by the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation. A local developer pitched in with additional costs.
“They were looking for unique play ideas, they didn’t want traditional play equipment. We are the Lake Orion Dragons that’s why we picked a dragon theme,’’ Bhatti said.
In addition to the dragon play structure, there will be a storybook trail that will go around the dragon featuring a story written and drawn by AP arts students at Lake Orion High School.
“So that’s really cool as well,’’ Bhatti said.
It will also feature benches, trees and landscaping as well. They borrowed concrete stamps from Cranbrook to put footprints on the paths. She expects the park to be finished by the end of the month.
“It will be a nice stop so you can grab dinner or grab ice cream right there and stop at the pocket park,’’ Bhatti said.