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City Proposes Changes to Bronson Park

WMUK

Even an historic park needs an update from time to time. So says the City of Kalamazoo, which is proposing a host of changes to Bronson Park, the oldest and most iconic in town.

Those range from providing shade for event-goers at one end, to rearranging the park’s monuments and restoring Alfonso Iannelli’s Fountain of the Pioneers.

The city also wants to add seating – in the park’s reflecting pool. In an interview with WMUK, City Parks and Recreation Director Sean Fletcher explains how that works.

Fletcher says a committee that met for several months to make recommendations for the park also took up the fate of one of the park’s most distinctive features – a 1940 concrete fountain by sculptor Alfonso Iannelli. It needs repairs.

Sean-Fletcher-web.mp3
WMUK's full interview with Sean Fletcher

But some find its imagery, which includes a pioneer figure facing and standing above a Native American, offensive. Fletcher explains the city’s plans.
 

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
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