Zeeland Mayor Kevin Klynstra shares his memories of playing at Hoogland Park as a youngster.
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Mayor Kevin Klynstra recalls playing at Hoogland Park when he was growing up.
“This was a dump. It looked nothing like (what it is today),” Klynstra said. “Then they turned it into a Little League field, and I remember playing there, and you’d have cans in the outfield that popped up out of the ground, and sometimes tires.
“Now we have this.”
Klynstra, other city leaders and neighborhood residents turned out Oct. 28 for a dedication ceremony for the expanded and renovated Hoogland Park.
The $1.4 million project, which has some final landscaping work yet to be completed, features a tower play structure for older children, another play structure for younger kids, new accessible restrooms, a new hexagon-shaped picnic shelter, walking paths, swings, new trees and a rain garden/stormwater detention area.
“What a beautiful addition for the city of Zeeland,” Klynstra said.
Construction got underway in May on the project, with an expected completion date of December. But company contractor Carbon Six Construction is expected to finish the work well ahead of schedule and within budget, Assistant City Manager Kevin Plockmeyer said.
“This project checked a bunch of boxes for Carbon Six’s core values,” company president Mark Stauffer said. “We looked at it as community outreach and (a chance to show our) creativity. It’s great to see kids playing on it today.”
Carbon Six site superintendent Corey Hall said the project had a big challenge early on – removing a large Siberian elm tree that had been on the park property for decades.
“It was huge. It was actually four trees that grew into one. That was over seven feet in diameter,” Hall said. “So cutting that down was a trick … Everybody was (saying) ‘it’s such a beautiful tree, we don’t want to cut it down.’ We did find out (later) that it was rotten inside. It was past its life. That was how the job kicked off.”
At one point, there were about 70 people from Carbon Six and its various subcontractors that were working on the Hoogland Park project, Hall said.
The city had identified improvements to Hoogland Park as its second-highest priority in its parks master plan that was adopted in 2022, behind only the installation of pickleball courts at Huizenga Park, which was completed last year. The city’s Cemetery and Parks Commission worked with project architect MCSA Group Inc. on developing a plan for the park.
The city in 2019 approved the acquisition of a 0.36-acre parcel at 370 E. Rich Ave., east of the original 0.54-acre Hoogland Park property. The 370 E. Rich parcel was rezoned by the city to public facilities use earlier this year so that it could be incorporated into the park.
Hoogland Park is named for Frank Hoogland (1899-1991), who served for 22 years on the City Council from 1951 to 1973, the last 10-1/2 years as mayor. He was the father of longtime Zeeland Mayor Les Hoogland. The City Council in December 1973 approved a resolution renaming what had been Peck Street Park as Frank Hoogland Municipal Park.
Members of the Hoogland family were on hand for the Oct. 28 dedication ceremony. A plaque honoring Frank Hoogland that had been located on the previous restroom facility will soon be reinstalled on a brick pillar at the park entrance to the west, Klynstra said.
Neighborhood residents check out the tower play structure that is the centerpiece of the newly-renovated Hoogland Park prior to a dedication ceremony for the project Oct. 28.
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Mayor Kevin Klynstra recalls playing at Hoogland Park when he was growing up.
“This was a dump. It looked nothing like (what it is today),” Klynstra said. “Then they turned it into a Little League field, and I remember playing there, and you’d have cans in the outfield that popped up out of the ground, and sometimes tires.
“Now we have this.”
Klynstra, other city leaders and neighborhood residents turned out Oct. 28 for a dedication ceremony for the expanded and renovated Hoogland Park.
The $1.4 million project, which has some final landscaping work yet to be completed, features a tower play structure for older children, another play structure for younger kids, new accessible restrooms, a new hexagon-shaped picnic shelter, walking paths, swings, new trees and a rain garden/stormwater detention area.
“What a beautiful addition for the city of Zeeland,” Klynstra said.
Construction got underway in May on the project, with an expected completion date of December. But company contractor Carbon Six Construction is expected to finish the work well ahead of schedule and within budget, Assistant City Manager Kevin Plockmeyer said.
“This project checked a bunch of boxes for Carbon Six’s core values,” company president Mark Stauffer said. “We looked at it as community outreach and (a chance to show our) creativity. It’s great to see kids playing on it today.”
Carbon Six site superintendent Corey Hall said the project had a big challenge early on – removing a large Siberian elm tree that had been on the park property for decades.
“It was huge. It was actually four trees that grew into one. That was over seven feet in diameter,” Hall said. “So cutting that down was a trick … Everybody was (saying) ‘it’s such a beautiful tree, we don’t want to cut it down.’ We did find out (later) that it was rotten inside. It was past its life. That was how the job kicked off.”
At one point, there were about 70 people from Carbon Six and its various subcontractors that were working on the Hoogland Park project, Hall said.
The city had identified improvements to Hoogland Park as its second-highest priority in its parks master plan that was adopted in 2022, behind only the installation of pickleball courts at Huizenga Park, which was completed last year. The city’s Cemetery and Parks Commission worked with project architect MCSA Group Inc. on developing a plan for the park.
The city in 2019 approved the acquisition of a 0.36-acre parcel at 370 E. Rich Ave., east of the original 0.54-acre Hoogland Park property. The 370 E. Rich parcel was rezoned by the city to public facilities use earlier this year so that it could be incorporated into the park.
Hoogland Park is named for Frank Hoogland (1899-1991), who served for 22 years on the City Council from 1951 to 1973, the last 10-1/2 years as mayor. He was the father of longtime Zeeland Mayor Les Hoogland. The City Council in December 1973 approved a resolution renaming what had been Peck Street Park as Frank Hoogland Municipal Park.
Members of the Hoogland family were on hand for the Oct. 28 dedication ceremony. A plaque honoring Frank Hoogland that had been located on the previous restroom facility will soon be reinstalled on a brick pillar at the park entrance to the west, Klynstra said.
Neighborhood residents check out the tower play structure that is the centerpiece of the newly-renovated Hoogland Park prior to a dedication ceremony for the project Oct. 28.
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