Lansing city officials, business owners and residents met Wednesday night to discuss future development at Ranney Park, located on Michigan Avenue bordering Frandor Shopping Center.
The meeting, held at Foster Community Center, 200 N. Foster St. in Lansing, was the third in recent months set up to address the future of the park and review the Ranney Park Master Plan, originally constructed in 1999.
Ranney Park is home to a softball field, a skate park, tennis courts, a sled hill and open fields.
Although no resolutions were made at the open meeting, discussions about an additional fast-pitch softball field and a possible gazebo and playground next to the existing field sparked debate between the Lansing Community College women's softball team and local business owners and residents.
The softball team uses the existing field for practices and games, and the team coach, Bob Every, insisted two fields are needed to attract state and national tournaments that would financially benefit Lansing.
"There's enough room to get some of this competition for dollars that we are losing to other cities because we don't have the facilities," Every said.
But Dirck Terwilliger, vice president of the Frandor Merchants Association and owner of the Hobby Hub, 526 Frandor Ave., was concerned that parking around Ranney may not be adequate for larger tournaments.
"As we look at where we want to develop a ball field, we need to look at where we've got places to park the people who are coming to visit that tournament," Terwilliger said. "Our concern is not having the parking for day-to-day customers taken over by people who come once a year."
Ryan McDevitt, marketing coordinator for Amber Apartments, which manages complexes on the eastern border of Ranney Park, echoed the concerns of Terwilliger by questioning the existing limited parking near the park and shopping center.
Lansing resident Dwight Washington also expressed concern whether another ball field would infringe on other uses for the area.
"I get worried about another field being fenced off and taken away from people who want to use that area, whether it's for soccer or football," Washington said.
Additional meetings to discuss future development of Ranney Park are still to be announced.
