GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Communities throughout West Michigan can now apply for a grant to help pay for place-making projects.

The state has $75 million in funding for the Revitalization and Placemaking Program, which was first started in 2022 by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Regional economic development organization The Right Place, Inc. has teamed up with Lakeshore Advantage and Greater Muskegon Economic Development to put together a regional grant application.

Communities can ask for up to $500,000 to help fund projects like parks, riverfront sites and trails. It’s a 50% reimbursement grant program, Tim Mroz, the senior vice president of community development for the Right Place, explained, so communities would need to fund the project and would then be reimbursed for up to 50% of the cost.

Projects that received funding last year include Sullivan Field in Grand Rapids, the ice rink in Holland and Mahan Park in Allegan.

The goal is to help communities create beautiful public spaces that can serve as a third place for lots of people.

“Third places are just super important,” Grace Maiullo, the director of marketing and communications for Lakeshore Advantage, told News 8. “People need places to go and see familiar faces. It really helps with building that thread and weaving that community fabric, when we have third places to go that we can enjoy and be out in public together.”

Cathy Brubaker-Clarke, grants and project manager for Greater Muskegon Economic Development, said RAP projects can also help attract talent to the area.

“When you’ve got nice areas in your downtown and your city, even in the more rural areas, the parks and those types of things, places for people to get out, be with other people, have festivals … those types of things just makes people feel better and makes them want to live in a place that has those amenities,” she said.

By applying for the grant as a region, the three organizations can help smaller communities get access to the funding.

“What we try to do is shed light on a lot of great projects in the region that may not normally get the attention that they would normally get,” Mroz said. “We’ve got a lot of smaller communities around the region that have some great ideas, but … they just tend to be smaller projects. And it it’s really hard to compete when you’ve got larger metros in the area that are also competing for projects.”

Communities can apply to be included in the grant application until Dec. 6. Mroz said last year, they had almost 50 applicants and selected 17.

“We’re a lot stronger together than we would be individually,” Brubaker-Clarke said. “This gives the opportunity to really come together as a region and promote what we have all throughout the region.”