Nowicki Park closes for construction

ROCHESTER HILLS — Construction is underway at Nowicki Park, the city’s first new park in the northwest section of Rochester Hills.

Officials say the redesigned park, which is slated to open in August 2027, will serve as a community gathering space — including the city’s first dog park, with separate areas for large and small dogs to the north, a one-acre playground to the south, a community room with year-round restrooms, an outdoor pavilion, tons of walking trails and more.

Parks and Natural Resources Director Ken Elwert said the city has worked hard over the last three years collaborating with the community to make it a park they really want.

“(We worked hard) updating it to a nature park instead of a sports park, including additional tree plantings, building our most requested amenities of a dog park and more trails,” he added. “(This will be) a permanent legacy for our grandkids, our kids, our neighbors, and the community.”

To make way for the new features, Elwert said, crews began removing hundreds of the total 1,900 trees on the nearly 35-acre site in May, a process that he said has been “dramatic” for those driving by.

“The first phase is dramatic, and we hate to cut down any tree, but we are planting more than we’re cutting down, as well as adding 4,000 pieces of vegetation,” he said.

The majority of the trees removed, he explained, were in the future location of a parking lot for a new one-acre playground on the southern end of the nearly 35-acre park site.

“There was no other way around removing these trees,” he said. “We’ve adjusted the trails to try and save the bigger trees as much as possible.”

Elwert said the playground will be “very unique.”

“It’s not going to be as big as Innovation Hills, but it’s going to have its own character,” he shared. “It’s a good size playground with natural materials and some really interesting climbing structures that we don’t have anywhere else in the city, so it might appeal to more middle schoolers or a little bit older group in a couple of areas. There’s also some really cool things for small children, too.”

While City Code allows the removal of 1,100 trees on the site, which Elwert said officials “would never do for a park,” he said it was necessary to remove 600 trees to make way for the new features. However, he noted that the city will be planting 650 trees in the park. City code requires 515.

“We’re adhering to more than what our code of ordinances requires, and, when it comes to trees, that’s the way we like to do it,” he said.

In total, there will be approximately 210 parking spots within the park, divided up between two different parking lots, one near the playground, and one near the dog park and community room.

The dog park, Elwert said, will be membership-based and include a fob granting access to the fenced-in designated areas for large or small dogs. It will also include a small rinse-off station for the dogs at the entrance, as well as water.

Those looking for a bit of a reprieve can head to the pond, the observation mounds, the nature trails, or the meditation areas, or rest in a little hammock park in the back.

“We are keeping the back almost two-thirds of the park sort of natural,” Elwert said. “Once you get on it and walk it, you realize (the park is) a lot bigger than you think it is.”

This fall, the public will begin to see some park structures go up, along with a community room building in the center of the park.

“It will really start to look like a park in the spring of 2027,” said Elwert. “The playground will be coming in, the trails will be coming in and the summer roadwork and planting in 2027 will really (add) the final touches.”

Traffic flow on Adams Road will not be affected until June of 2027, when two-way traffic will be moved to one side, then the other, to allow for road construction. Elwert said two-way traffic flow will be maintained throughout the entire road construction process, which includes the addition of a HAWK signal — High-intensity Activated crossWalK —  used to help pedestrians safely cross busy streets.

The park is set to open by the end of August of 2027.

The parcel, part of 160 acres, was originally purchased in 1819 by John Miller, a veteran of the War of 1812 — according to research by former local history and genealogy librarian Deborah Larsen. Arthur W. Spencer, the supervisor of what was then Avon Township and a drain commissioner in Oakland County in the early 1900s, purchased the land in 1909. In December 1990, Larsen’s research shows, Rochester Hills purchased about 25 acres of the property for $676,000.11. Another 10 acres were added to the original purchase a few years later.

In October of 1999, the Rochester Hills City Council decided to name the park Eugene S. Nowicki Park in honor of a longtime local public servant who had recently died.

“He was a councilman that had recently passed and he was also a strong conservationist,  (so it was done) in recognition of his service and his conservation ethic,” Elwert explained.

Elwert said the park property had been sitting as it looked before construction began, mostly filled with vegetation and a few grassy trails, for almost 40 years.

“I’m sure Mr. Nowicki would be very happy that something in his name is going to end up looking like this,” said Neubauer. “And his family, which we have heard from, is in full support of this.”

The reimagined space is projected to cost approximately $19 million, which includes the park construction, owner allowances, road construction, water and sewer connections, professional services, and more.

The funding, Elwert said, will come from various places — around $14.5 million from the city’s Parks Development Fund; about $2.4 million from the city’s Department of Public Services budget for road, water and sewer improvements; a $2 million grant from the Michigan Department Labor and Economic Opportunity; and just over $500,000 for contingencies from the SAVER fund, which is funded exclusively from prior‑year general‑fund operating surpluses.

“We know this is a big cost, but it’s not out of line with the parks we’ve built in the past that produce awesome feedback and great usage,” Elwert noted.

Rochester City Councilmember Marvie Neubauer said Rochester Hills is known for its parks, which people and families from other counties often come to visit.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the council that creates something that’s going to last for years and years and years for our kids,” she said.

“It will be a legacy for our city,” added City Council Vice President Theresa Mungioli.

Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said the city has really hung its hat on its park system.

“It’s in everything we do,” he shared.

“To think of all the ways the park system that we’ve created has touched people is the best part of this job.”

Eugene S. Nowicki Park is located along north Adams Road, between Tienken Road and Walton Boulevard.