Sandy Beach, a piece of Baw Beese lake-front property 3.4 miles away from campus, is undergoing some major changes. Many of them have already been completed, said Rich Moore of the Hillsdale Rotary Club and chairman of the renovation project.
“We’re excited to start the next phase of the project next week,” Moore said.
The focus of this next phase is a reconstruction of Sandy Beach’s current shelter. With new walls and floors, a new concession area, and new amenities for restrooms such as motion-sensor lights and hand-driers, the shelter “will be unrecognizable when we’re done,” Moore said.
“We’re excited to be doing this for the community, to really make a difference,” Moore said. “But we couldn’t have done it without the community — we’ve raised $170,000 in less than three years.”
The progress of the project also pleased Hillsdale Mayor Doug Moon.
“[Moore’s] work is fantastic for the whole country,” Moon said. “It looks great, and we’re so glad to see it.”
But the work on Sandy Beach was not the only local renovation project discussed at the meeting. Councilpersons also invited several members of the local Garden Club to thank them for their work on the restoration of Mrs. Stock’s Park, off of East Bacon Street. Moon called the park “another great little jewel we have in town.” He also praised the Garden Club’s maintenance efforts, which have won several awards, including the William C. Welch Award for Community Landscape Design from National Garden Clubs, Inc.
“These activities going on are not because of city council. Now, I don’t say that to undermine city council, but that’s the stuff people notice when they come to town. These are the kinds of things that keep Hillsdale going strong.”
Sally Fallon, a Garden Club representative, said that the club has enjoyed working on maintaining the park, and that they have another job on the way.
“It’s been our pleasure to work on this restoration project. We already have a new project: ‘Fund a Foot of Fence’ — to complete the iron frontage fence of the park along Bacon Street.”
The project will require more fundraising through this year and next, but Fallon is confident that it too will make the park a better place.
“Right now, it’s sort of a popular question to ask ‘are you better off now than you were four years ago?’ But if you asked ‘Is Mrs. Stock’s Park better off than it was eight years ago?’ the answer is ‘yes.’”