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