GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The long cold cement sidewalk that spans Fulton Street in front of Van Andel Arena does what it’s supposed to do. It just isn’t very attractive.
“It is functional. But we care a lot about the people that come in,” Steve Heacock, who chairs the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority, said.
Some plantings in the middle with trees,” Heacock explained Wednesday. “There will be trees, grass, some sloping places to sit. Sort of a nice piazza, plaza sort of setting.”
Van Andel Arena opened in 1996, five years before 9/11 forced public venues to rethink security. That’s part of the plan as well. Currently, there are no barriers between Fulton Street and the front of the arena.
The proposed upgrades also address the alley that separates the east side of the arena with the backs of bars and restaurants along Ionia Avenue SW. DGRI and the CAA are working with those businesses to create a sort of cafe setting.
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