Progress being made at Connect Community Center

WEST BLOOMFIELD — Kelly Hyer, the executive director of West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation, briefed the Board of Trustees on the status of the new Connect Community Center during the board’s meeting Jan. 26. The report included progress made in December 2025.

Voters approved a $25 million bond back in August 2024 to build a new recreation center. The facility will feature multi-purpose spaces, a gymnasium, an elevated track, a new nature exploration area and an outdoor plaza. The center will be located on the Civic Center campus at 4640 Walnut Lake Road.  

“We are building an amazing project for this community,” Hyer said. “When all of this is said and done, we want the residents to be able to use it for the next 30, 40 years.”

The project is reportedly one of the largest city structures in the township’s history. 

“This project remains a significant investment to our West Bloomfield parks and infrastructure,” Hyer said. “We have not built a building this big.”

As work gets underway on the new facility, walk-in customer service has relocated to the Senior Connect Center at Simsbury, located at 33230 W. 14 Mile Road in West Bloomfield.

Staff and contractors have been focused on finalizing details for the site plan. In addition, the trailhead behind the center is closed, but the ones behind the library and City Hall are open.

Those living within 300 feet of the project were sent copies of the plan and correspondence from the township, per public notice requirements.

Barr Engineering was recently added to the consulting team. According to Hyer, they are providing expertise related to the nearby wetlands.

Township Supervisor Jonathan Warshay questioned something posted on social media. 

“(The post) said the new recreational activities center will destroy 99 acres of wetland,” Warshay said.

Hyer clarified the situation.

“The Civic Center campus is owned by the township board. When we submitted our applications for the wetlands, woodlands and site plan review, because the Civic Center campus is owned by the township board and our project is within this property boundary, we had to put on (the application) that it is a 99-acre parcel,” Hyer said. “The specific request that will be reviewed on our permits will be much, much, much smaller.”

“Wetland B is a tenth of an acre,” she continued. “If you include the parking lot, the entire project is less than 8 acres.”  

Board member Debbie Binder noted that the wetland in question is not a natural wetland, but rather manmade. 

“Wetland B is a storage drain that is conveying the water,” said Hyer. “It occurred when the Civic Center parking lot was added. It was originally created in 1996, then shortened in 2005. Wetlands A, C, and D will not be touched.”

Binder emphasized the value of wetlands for educational purposes.

“We are going to create a lot of outdoor education space for the wetlands that we value in the township,” Binder said.

Hyer wants the community to be informed about the project. Answers to frequently asked questions have been posted online at the West Bloomfield Parks website.  If residents’ questions are not answered, she encourages them to reach out to West Bloomfield Parks.

“We would be happy to add more frequently asked questions to our page,” Hyer said. “We want to make sure everybody is informed.”