Remember the fire feature planned for the Mize Rose Garden, meant to be warming hands by the holidays? It won't be there for the tree lighting. Construction is now expected to start in March 2027.
That delay sums up the season. Saugatuck's emptiest months are the city's working months. The places that see the most winter foot traffic are the ones being dug up, replanted, permitted and redesigned right now: the dune loop off Oval Drive, the slope under Mt. Baldhead, the courts at Village Square. Most of the visible results are scheduled for next spring, and the Harbor Natural Area trail work and the Wicks Park restroom continue into summer and fall 2027.
The fire feature that moved to March
In September the City Council approved the warming station at the Mize Memorial Rose Garden on a 5–2 vote. The Saugatuck/Douglas Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is paying for the design, permitting and construction. The garden sits at Butler and Mason Streets in downtown Saugatuck. The city's September 16 report describes the plan: a custom natural-gas fire feature with low masonry seating walls, new entryways and better accessibility. The existing plantings stay. The Holland Sentinel reported an estimate of $103,475.
The design is meant for cold evenings, not summer ones. According to the September workshop minutes, it's a low, sculptural piece. Vertical stainless-steel elements surround a mesh enclosure so no one can reach the heat source, and removable panels let public works crews clear out leaves. You start it with a push button on a timer. The minutes say it is meant mainly for shoulder-season use.
The City Manager's October 16 report says the CVB pushed construction of both the Saugatuck and Douglas warming stations to spring. The extra time is for final plans, sign-off from the Fire District and local building officials, and ordering materials. So the shoulder season it was built for will most likely be fall 2027.
The Harbor Natural Area loop shrinks before it grows back
The biggest change to an off-season walk is at the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area. It covers 173 acres off Oval Drive, where informal paths have spread across dune and interdunal wetland plant communities. The council unanimously approved a proposal from ODC Network capped at $78,300. The SHNA endowment pays for it.
Before anyone decided which paths to close, an ecological assessment looked at the whole property. The city's October report quotes its finding:
"[A]lthough the property has experienced localized disturbances associated with historic hydrologic modifications and increased public use, the vast majority of SHNA remains remarkably intact."
The trail work is meant to keep it that way. Use will be pulled onto the existing primary loop. Informal and redundant segments will be blocked with downed logs, brush and other material found on site, plus small keep-out signs. About 20,000 feet of closed trail will then be restored. The recommended method combines native seed with roughly 3,500 plugs placed where foot traffic is heaviest. Species may include marram grass, puccoon, prairie sand reed, sand coreopsis and spotted bee balm.
The timeline explains what a walk there will look like for the next few months. Trail remediation runs from fall 2026 through summer 2027. Planting is set for spring 2027, depending on weather and soil. This winter you may find closures marked with brush and no new planting yet. The signs are still being designed and built:
- One welcome kiosk with rules and a trail map
- Five interpretive signs on Open Dunes, Great Lakes Marsh, Interdunal Wetland, Mesic Northern Forest and Native Plant Benefits
- Fifty boundary signs reading Keep Off Dune, Private Property and Keep Off Pier
The Crow's Nest and Fishtown trails are not on the closure list. The minutes mention them only as nearby routes that could be better connected and signed in future wayfinding. The Holland Sentinel covered the approval in late September.
Mt. Baldhead is being replanted from the bottom up
The same idea applies across the river. In mid-October, crews at Mt. Baldhead were clearing woody invasives, especially tree-of-heaven. Native seed and plugs were scheduled for the following week, with shrubs and exclusion fencing to come later this fall.
At the top, the observation platform replacement is working through permits. The soil erosion application has gone to Allegan County, and an EGLE Critical Dunes permit application comes next. Bidding is expected in late 2026, with construction in spring 2027.
The new restroom at the foot of the stairs is the one finished piece, and the city is using it as a model. In January it was nearing completion, with temporary doors on order so it could pass final inspection. Wilcox Newspapers reported a revised total of $309,279.11, up from a $298,000 initial contract. In September the council approved a publicly accessible AED cabinet on the side of the building facing the stairway, supplied and monitored by HEARTSafe. The city estimated its ongoing cost at about $5 a month in electricity. The October report expected it to be installed that month.
Oval Beach in the quiet months
The staffed season at Oval Beach ended after Labor Day weekend. The city lists Oval Beach Park as open year-round.
This winter the beach is also the planned site of the city's first professional deer cull. The council approved an agreement with Berg's Animal & Bug Control at $495 per deer, within a $30,000 budget that covers up to 60 deer. The fee covers processing and distribution for human consumption, mostly through food banks and churches. MLive reported a tentative window of February or March.
The city's September 16 report says it still needs DNR authorization and Allegan County Sheriff's Office approval of the final safety plan before any work starts. Dates, locations, closures and notification procedures haven't been set. Operations are expected at night, when public activity is lowest, and they stop if unauthorized people or pets enter a restricted area. The city has said it will share details with the community before anything begins. It also asks residents not to feed deer and links to a list of deer-resistant plantings for yards and gardens.
Downtown's spring lineup is already scheduled
The pattern continues downtown. Village Square's court renovation is backed by a $100,000 donation from the Julie & Kirk Cousins Foundation and a $150,000 DNR Recreation Passport grant. The preliminary design from Fleis & VandenBrink keeps a combined tennis and pickleball court with dual striping and an adjustable net. It adds a shuffleboard court, enlarges the basketball court to high-school regulation size, and brings in rain gardens, new seating and a water bottle filling station at the restroom. Council members asked for less full-perimeter fencing so the space stays flexible for art and craft events.
The other projects are on similar calendars:
| Project | Status this winter | When it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Village Square courts | Historic District review in early November, then bidding | Spring 2027 |
| Mt. Baldhead observation platform | Permit applications | Spring 2027 construction |
| Mize Rose Garden warming station | Final plans and approvals | Construction begins March 2027 |
| Spear Street kayak launcher | Ordered, paid for by a donation | Early spring installation |
| Wicks Park restroom replacement | Design phase approved | Fall 2027 construction |
The Wicks Park restroom will be replaced with a building similar to the one at Mt. Baldhead, with two unisex stalls. It will sit higher, under a new gable roof, and the existing mural will be recreated on it. Village Square's restroom gets new siding, a new roof and a renovated interior.
What's on the calendar between now and then
The Historic District Commission meets Thursday, November 5, at 6 p.m. The city has scheduled the Village Square review for early November. On November 27 the Christmas Tree Lighting returns to Wicks Park at 502 Water Street, from 6 to 8 p.m., with the current restroom building still in place behind it. The next afternoon, the Saugatuck Douglas Holiday Cookie Tour runs from 1 to 3 p.m.
After that, the to-do list for this off-season has a clear finish line: brush-blocked side trails in the Harbor Natural Area, new plantings under Mt. Baldhead, permits for the platform, and bid documents for the courts. Planting, platform construction, court construction and the warming station are all scheduled for spring 2027, with the trail work wrapping up that summer and the Wicks Park restroom built that fall.
If you own a home near the parks or rent one out seasonally, knowing which months bring construction and which bring the finished result can help you schedule your own projects and bookings. Tammy L Kerr follows Saugatuck's park and public works calendar closely. Schedule a personalized consultation to talk through how the 2027 timeline fits your plans.