Schedule for 2025

Events

  • 2025-04-19 : Highland Park Clean-up

  • 2025-06-21 : Neighborhood / Park Clean-up

  • 2025-07-19 : Annual Party In The Park (Tentative)

    • We are attempting to coordinate the event with other park users.

  • TBD : Dumpster Day

    • The date for dumpster day requires coordination with the city. Watch this page and site for updates.

  • 2025-09-13 : Neighborhood / Park Clean-up

  • 2025-10-31 : Halloween

Meetings

Post Painting Day

WHEN: 2024-10-19 11am - 3pm

WHERE: Highland Park (the park)

Congratulations to local artist Alyssa Meller, whose designs were selected by HPNA to decorate newly installed posts at entry points into Highland Park

Check out Alyssa's winning concept sketches here: https://drive.google.com/.../1rurr1FPxZG4Z8ZRXkvQlCMoDVPs...

We are looking for volunteers to help paint posts THIS SATURDAY, OCT 19TH from 11am to 3pm. No experience necessary! Just a willingness to participate in something special and to help beautify our park for all to enjoy. Come for one hour or all four - whatever your schedule permits. Should be one of our last warm Saturdays of the year.

Call for Artists – Highland Park Post Painting Project

Calling All Grand Rapids Artists!

The Highland Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) is excited to announce a unique opportunity for local artists to contribute to the vibrancy and character of Highland Park. We are seeking a talented artist or team of artists to take part in the Highland Park Post Painting Project, a community-driven art initiative aimed at enhancing our neighborhood with original, site-specific artwork.

Project Overview

The Highland Park Post Painting Project invites artists to design and paint a series of 33 newly installed posts, each standing 3 feet high, bordering Highland Park. This is a chance to showcase your creativity and leave a lasting mark on our community. The selected artist will work closely with HPNA volunteers to bring their vision to life, creating a welcoming and vibrant environment for residents and visitors alike.

Key Details:

  • Application Deadline: September 20, 2024

  • Artist(s) Selected & Notified: September 23, 2024

  • Contracts Signed: September 27, 2024

  • Final Concept Design & Supplies List Due: October 2, 2024

  • Concepts Approved: October 7, 2024

  • Stipend & Canvas Distribution: October 9, 2024

  • Volunteer Painting Dates: October 19 & 26, 11 am - 3 pm

  • Art Completion Deadline & Final Payment: October 31, 2024

Compensation:

Selected artists will receive an $800 stipend upon completion of their artwork. In addition, a $400 materials stipend will be provided. All materials must be approved by HPNA before purchase.

How to Apply:

Interested artists should submit their proposals via the online application form here. Your application should include:

  • A one-paragraph statement describing your intended concept.

  • A resume or CV (PDF).

  • A link to your portfolio, art Instagram, or at least 5 samples of previous work (jpg/3mb).

Eligibility:

This opportunity is open to all artists residing in Grand Rapids, with priority given to those living in the Highland Park neighborhood. Applicants must be over 18 years of age.

Selection Process:

Artists will be selected by a majority vote from the HPNA Arts Subcommittee. We are looking for vibrant, friendly, and community-centric designs that will set a positive tone for Highland Park.

Project Details:

The project features 33 posts, each offering a 3-foot high canvas for artistic expression. While abstract compositions are encouraged, all creative proposals are welcome. The final artwork should enhance the welcoming atmosphere of Highland Park and be completed with the support of HPNA volunteers.

Volunteer Support Needed!

We also need enthusiastic volunteers to help make this project a success! The Highland Park Post Painting Project relies on community support to bring these artistic posts to life. Volunteers will assist with painting the 33 posts and work alongside the selected artist(s) to ensure that every post is a masterpiece.

Volunteer Details:

  • Dates: October 19 & 26

  • Time: 11 am - 3 pm

  • No prior painting experience needed – just a willingness to help and be part of something special!

Volunteering is a fantastic way to engage with the community, support local art, and contribute to a project that will beautify Highland Park. If you’re interested in volunteering, please sign up here and join us in making a positive impact on our neighborhood.

For more information on volunteering or to sign up, visit our website or contact us at sammosleyyy@gmail.com. Your participation will help turn artistic visions into reality and bring vibrant new energy to Highland Park.

Don’t miss this chance to be part of something truly meaningful!


Lydia St Traffic Calming

📣 Residents on Lydia St! 📣 You have received a mailer from MobileGR regarding a street calming treatment on Lydia St.

Lydia St and Bissell/College are topics the neighborhood association hears about frequently. No solution is perfect, nor will any one solution solve every problem; we have to increment our way to a better street system.

MobileGR needs to hear from citizens regarding this treatment by August 31st - so please mail your responses back. If you have any questions let us know (hpngr@gmail.com).

The green area on Lydia across from Benson is a curb bump out. Not only is visually narrowing a street the single most effective way to reduce traffic speed, this will also reduce the crossing distance at Benson Ave. Across Lydia St from Benson Ave is the north/rear entrance of Highland Park. It is a future aspiration to improve this north entrance to an path. The idea of connecting Highland Park with the The Gulch and the CLAC [*1] via Benson Ave and Union Ave is an intriguing idea.

The dotted lines indicate existing and potential trails/paths:

If you are a Lydia St resident please consider responding to Mobile GR’s mailer.

[*1] The CLAC: the business district at College Ave, Leonard St, and Carrier St.

Sounds of the Underground

Have you notice these boxes around the city? [and in Highland Park!]

These are an art and advocacy project by the Coldbrook Creek community. The boxes allow you to hear the sounds of the underground, in places where Coldbrook Creek has been buried.

Coldbrook Creek now flows mostly underground. The installations are in Wilcox Park, Fulton Street Market, Highland Park, Mary Waters Park, and Canal Park.

You can find more information @ https://coldbrookcreek.org/sound-underground-art-project/

Phius ZERO

Did you know that the single-unit residential building being built at 720 Eastern Ave NE is a “Phius ZERO” project?

Phius ZERO is the latest standard for net zero energy design. When complete the building should be the most energy efficient single-unit residential building in the city of Grand Rapids; with both Greenstar Platinum and LEED Platinum certification.

You can read more about the Phius ZERO standard @ https://www.phius.org/phius-zero

Board Meeting 2024-08-13

When: 2024-08-13, 6:30pm

Where: Emerald Flats Auditorium ■ 750 Eastern Ave NE (use the west entrance)

Minutes 2024-07-09: https://bit.ly/3w8z2zx

Agenda 2024-08-13: https://bit.ly/44wzdRN

Board nominations are still open! Contact HPNA or a board member prior to the September 10th meeting when board nominations will close.

Future Events & Meetings:

  • 2024-09-10 Board Meeting

  • 2024-09-14 Dumpster Day

  • 2024-10-08 Annual Meeting

  • 2014-11-12 Board Meeting

The Next Gulch Project

The city will be performing a sewer slip-lining project during the next couple of weeks using the new access road in The Gulch [between Coldbrook and Union].

After the project is complete the surface of the access road will be improved with finer gravel over the refuse rock of the road bed (which is currently the exposed surface). The treatment of the access road surface is expected to happen later this summer.

2024 Party In The Park

Summer is here - and that means it's time for the Highland Park Neighborhood Association's annual PARTY IN THE PARK!

Round up family & friends and join us for grilling, ice cream, music, and lawn games. Reps from various park user groups will be on hand to talk park sports and offer a few demos. Enjoy meeting neighbors and chatting with HPNA board members about all the latest in the Highland Park neighborhood.

Hot dogs, snacks, and ice cream will be provided but we'll welcome any dishes you'd like to bring to pass.

This is a FREE event sponsored by the Highland Park Neighborhood Association.

We'll meet up near the parking lot at the south end of the park by the splash pad and rock climbing wall. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates. See you there!

Where: Highland Park (use south east entrance)

When: July 20th, 2024. 1pm - 4pm

Check back here for updates and more information.

A Reminder Of Parking Rules

An automobile may not be parked:

  • On the sidewalk or the space between the street curb and the sidewalk, regardless of if the area is paved.

  • Blocking a driveway or alley; or within 3ft of the curb-line of a driveway or alley. The curb cut line extends from the curb into the street at a 45 degree angle.

  • Within fifteen (15) feet of a fire hydrant or intersection.

  • Withing fifty (50) feet of a railroad crossing.

  • Within thirty (30) feet of any flashing signal or traffic control signal

  • Within twenty (20) feet of a marked crosswalk.

  • Within any marked bike lane

  • Within a marked fire-lane

  • In a space signed for use by a disabled person without displaying the appropriate documentation or tags.

According to the Michigan Vehicle Code it is also impermissible to park in a tunnel or in anyway that block streetcar tracks; however, Highland Park has neither tunnels or a street car. Do we have a marked fire-lane? 🤔

2024 Master Plan Review

The City of Grand Rapids is in the home stretch for developing its next 20-year Master Plan! Now's your chance to check out the draft plan and give final feedback. They'll be hosting three sessions.. Free dinner provided! RSVP @ https://bit.ly/3wlWlWu

• Tuesday • May 7 • 5-7PM @ GRPS University (1400 Fuller Ave NE)

• Wednesday • May 8 • 5-7PM @ Ottawa Hills High School (2055 Rosewood Ave SE)

• Thursday • May 8 • 5-7PM @ Sibley Elementary (943 Sibley St. NW)