limelake

Gallagher Park
Gallagher Park is located on Second Street and is approximately a ten-acre park offering baseball and softball facilities, as well as a soccer-playing area, a pavilion with restrooms and playground equipment. Gallagher Park was built in the early 1980’s and was named after Spring Arbor Township Supervisor Byron “Fritz” Gallagher. In 1997 a parking lot was added on the corner of Victor and Sharon streets to accommodate the park users.

If you are interested in using the pavilion for a family reunion you must fill out a park use application at the township office.  Park hours are from dawn to dusk.

 

Harmony Park
Harmony Park is located at the corner of Star and Harmony Road (behind McDonald’s, in between the Senior Center and the Fire Station). It has had many new improvements over the last few years. The park is home to the Snyder School House and Museum, a renovation effort completed by the Historical Committee. The improvements to the park have been two playground areas which have seen many hours of use by Warner School children and youth from the neighborhood area. Benches have been added in the last year to offer respite for parents watching their children play. In the summer and fall of 2004, the basketball court was constructed (directly behind the Fire Station) and the softball diamond was moved and completely renovated.

In the fall of 2005, the members of the Park Committee and other volunteers from the Township donated their time to construct the new pavilion. It is a 40’ x 60’ open-air structure. This was a major undertaking and took several months to complete, but the end result is a beautiful complement to the rest of the park. Our thanks go out to John Ball for donating his labor to roof the pavilion and many thanks to Spring Arbor Lumber for their donation of time and their forklift to allow us to move the materials. A big thanks to Stan Lyon for the use of his time and equipment to place the trusses on the beams, and a big thanks to Robert Pohl for providing labor and equipment to dig the holes for the supporting beams. The Township Board and the Park Committee are extremely grateful to all who helped in this construction project to make our community a nicer place to live.

Future plans for this park include the construction of a walking path that will meander around the entire park and connect to the Senior Center. Benches and landscaping will be the final addition to complement the walking path. The path is intended to have mile markers for those interested in using it as a fitness path. The original plans for the park also include a putting green which will be located in the southwest corner of the park.

Snyder School, A Greek-Revival Schoolhouse
An 1840’s authentically renovated Greek Revival style schoolhouse is the latest addition to the Spring Arbor Township park system. Located on Star Road, south and west of the Senior Center, it houses a replicated schoolroom on the main floor and a historical records museum in the basement. It’s another project of the Spring Arbor Historical Committee spearheaded by Becky Cunningham and Lloyd Ganton. Open only by appointment, visitors may call Spring Arbor Township [750-2800] to request a tour for groups or individuals. The building is handicapped accessible.

Log benches built by Lloyd Phillips from logs donated by Stan Lyon serve as student seating. Because the school did not have a belfry, a school bell has been mounted on a pedestal at the school’s back entrance.

The lower level of the building contains a wealth of primary historical information available for historians, genealogists, and any other interested history buff or citizen. Information includes copies of original Spring Arbor Township’s abstracts collected by various members of the historical committee; original, handwritten, family history manuscripts; an original 1858 six-foot Jackson County map, copies of early township maps framed and on display; Potowatomi and other Indian tribe histories and artifacts; 8-10 early Jackson County and Township histories and pictorial and written copy tracing the construction/renovation of the Falling Water Park, the Veterans Memorial and the Greek Revival Schoolhouse.

 

Falling Waters Park 
Falling Waters Park is a historical park located at the corner of Hammond and Cross Roads. It is a walk through museum like park with artifacts and content that points to the origins of Spring Arbor Township, and before the coming of white settlers was a Potawatomi Indian village and burial ground. The area includes a historic log cabin, root cellar, teepee and more. The park is free and is open from dawn until dusk.

King Road Park
Our fourth township park is a work in progress.  The Dowley family generously donated over 50 acres of land off of King Road for the Township’s use.  The current parks are being used to capacity especially during team sports seasons.  The Park Committee has been diligently working on a parks’ use plan and with that we are on our way to another great park for the township.

Falling Waters Trail
The Falling Waters Trail is a great place to enjoy a scenic bike ride, run or walk. It a major east-west component of the Jackson County Regional Trail plan, connecting Cascades, Ella Sharp, Lime Lake and Swains Lake parks in south-central Michigan’s Jackson County with the city of Jackson. The Trail has been dedicated as a Jackson County Park. For more information about the trail, click here.

Lime Lake, Jackson County Park
Lime Lake County Park is located on Teft Road. There is public lake access, including a boat launch. Also provided are a few picnic tables and playground equipment for children.

Kate Palmer Sanctuary
Located five miles west of Jackson, is a fifty-three acre tract of varying ecosystems:
Upland and lowland deciduous woods
A grove of large White Pine trees
Marshlands and natural springs
Ever-flowing Sandstone Creek and basin
Click here for more information.