Ground has been broken on a new park in Benton Township.

Township leaders, nonprofits, and supporters gathered Thursday for the official start of construction on the new ten-acre Euclid Park, located along Euclid Avenue near Laurel Avenue in Benton Heights. Benton Township Supervisor Cathy Yates said the project will include the installation of a playground, a walking trail, a pavilion, and picnic tables and grills in an area that currently doesn’t have such a gathering space. She said it took several partners to bring this vision to life.

“The park represents more than just a recreational space,” Yates said. “It’s a reflection of what we can accomplish when a community comes together with a shared vision.”

One partner was New Heights CCDA, which asked residents of the area what they would like to see developed in their neighborhood. New Heights Director Chris Britton told us the new park is a response to the community and a reminder that real change can follow when people communicate.

“I think this is the third groundbreaking I’ve been a part of out here in this community in the last 10 years,” Britton said. “It’s just great to see the positive momentum that’s happening in this little corner of Benton Charter Township.”

The Berrien Community Foundation’s Lisa Cripps-Downey said the community was involved in the planning of the park from the start.

“Then we brought the community back together again, not just to say where do you want it, but what do you want? We asked little kids, and little kids were picking the kind of playgrounds, and we had our wonderful prime engineers there doing drawings and making it all happen,” Cripps-Downey said.

Benton Township secured a $1 million state grant to support the project, and Yates told us it’s a dream come true to see work begin. She also noted the former Martindale Elementary School, located adjacent to the site and long vacant, will be torn down this year to help make the park an even safer place for families to gather.

Future plans for the park could include ballfields, basketball courts, and even a splash pad.