Albion College has historically had limited collaboration with its home city, but a recent $2.8 million federal grant aims to strengthen that connection.
On Sept. 24, Albion College announced that it was awarded the $2.8 million grant, which will be used to revitalize city areas including Victory Park, Ketchum Field and parts of the downtown area.
According to Albion’s Mayor Victoria Snyder, these renovations were chosen to “provide spaces for recreational opportunities.”
“We have a couple of fields that are in the community that need a lot of TLC,” Synder said. “This is going to allow us to finalize all those major projects that have been in the works up until now.”
Both Snyder and Albion College President Wayne Webster said the plans for this grant go back to 2021 when former Albion College President Mathew Johnson wanted to renovate Washington Gardner High School for YMCA usage.
When Webster arrived on campus last July, however, he said the plans to renovate Washington Gardner were tabled. While Snyder thought the process of obtaining the grant took a little longer than it should have, she seemed happy with the results.
Snyder said the change in administration at the college held things up a bit, as well as “what the college had intended to do with the funds, that slowed the process down,” Snyder said.
Once Webster took office, though, Snyder said that things turned around.
“I’m very grateful for Dr. Webster’s leadership in making sure that this got pushed through because he knew in the long run that this would be a win-win,” Snyder said.
Webster and his cabinet worked with many facets of the local Albion community to get the grant going.
“I worked with the city, the YMCA, the Community Foundation and the school district to find a way to use the money,” Webster said. “I think we need to work to keep the money in the community.”
The grant was approved by Congress through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a federal agency, according to Webster.
“A lot of federal funds are really focused on having that private-public partnership,” Snyder said. “That’s why this worked, because the college, which was a private entity, was able to work with a public entity, the YMCA.”
Once plans were finalized, the grant was proposed by the college to HUD, according to Webster.
“After a couple of conversations with HUD and an act of Congress, President Biden signed off on it. With some help from Congressman Walberg, who is our congressman here in Albion, we were able to be really successful,” Webster said.
Although Albion College is the recipient of the grant, Webster described its role as the “fiscal agents in the grant,” with the college being the official beneficiary, but the community using most of the money.
Both Webster and Snyder confirmed that the Albion community plans to use the money to improve the Victory Park Pavilion, a covered basketball court and ice rink. There are also plans to work on Ketchum Field, a baseball field in Albion, along with adding an elevator to Innovate Albion, a local STEM school.
The renovations at Ketchum Field will bring it “up to code,” according to an Albion College press release published on Sep. 24. This would entail projects like restoring lighting, upgrading physical facilities and more.
Snyder said the city of Albion and Albion College have rarely collaborated like this before, but said she is “very thankful that President Webster understood the impact that this would have, not only on the community but for the relationship the college has with the community.”
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