By Chris Hagan
Review Staff Writer
Several projects in Downtown Lake Orion were honored by Oakland County at their annual Oakland County Main Street gala celebration in Royal Oak.
The event brought together 16 communities engaged in unique projects ranging from building refurbishment to parking expansion.
Downtown development groups from Clawson, Highland Township, Lake Orion and Rochester each picked up three awards during the 1980’s-themed event, which honors members of the MSOC program for their economic development efforts. Other Main Street-member communities recognized were Birmingham, Farmington, Ferndale, Franklin, Lathrup Village, Leonard, Oak Park, Oxford, Pontiac and Wixom.
“OCMC is there to showcase the good work but also promote some sort of friendly competition to where other communities can see what their peers are being recognized for and hopefully spur them on to do good things as well,” planning manager from OCMS, Bret Rasegan said.
Lake Orion’s Downtown Development Authority(DDA) won two awards for their unique vision of creating “place” within the village. According to Interim DDA Executive Director Janet Hartman, placemaking is a project initiative in looking at creating unique places using a small budget.
The DDA partnered with the Orion Township Public Library to install two separate ‘Free Little Libraries’, one in Children’s Park and one on what is known as the Parklet in downtown.
The trendy little libraries offer families the ability to take and/or leave books as they visit downtown. It’s a simple strategy to engage community readers in downtown.
One of the most visible projects that has been installed was the Parklet, or mini park. It’s the temporary and removable outdoor seating venue outside ABeanToGo that gives pedestrians and shoppers an opportunity to sit and enjoy the historic corridor.
The DDA was also engaged in a project that created temporary signage that gave people strolling the downtown area information of just how far they were from village amenities.
“It shows that we’re moving in the right direction and making improvements that are catching the attention of the county,” Hartman said. “We’re putting our efforts in places that are visible and hopefully meaningful to the community.”
Former DDA Executive Director Suzanne Perrault was awarded the Outstanding Service award. The DDA was also recognized for their bike corral project where they partnered with the Paint Creek Trail group and CJ’s Lakeside Grill to fund a bike corral to people to come off the trail, park their bikes, and explore downtown.
Another big winner for Lake Orion was Drew Ciora, the owner of Lockharts BBQ and their revitalization of the former village hall. They won the Outstanding Business Investment award for their $2.5 million investment project converting the old village hall into a contemporary barbecue emporium.
“It was great just to be nominated, when we attended, it was a surprise to win and we were thrilled,” Ciora said. “I have always enjoyed working with old buildings in the restaurants I am involved with and the old Lake Orion Firehouse and Village Offices was such a good old building that we were pleased to be able to bring it back to life and put a new use in there that the community can enjoy.”
The $2.5 million includes the purchase of the building and the renovations. Ciora has lived in Lake Orion since 1998 and as a resident he says he loves the small downtown and wanted a new place to enjoy there.
“I believe our town supports great businesses and those that give back to our community,” he said. “I feel the investment is a long term commitment to our community and will help the Village grow and become a destination for our residents.”
Both Ciora and Hartman said they want to bring outside projects to the downtown and Lockhart’s during the summer times.
Lockhart’s is participating in Lake Orion’s American Summer event and is a sponsor of the Restaurant Week and the upcoming pub crawl on June 2. Ciora said that the roof top deck, that faces Flint St., will be opening with the warmer weather.
The DDA is working on their Paint Creek Trail connector project that will utilize the Lake Orion Lumber property and help funnel visitors into the village.
With the help of SAA Architect Scott Reynolds, the DDA transformed a dark alley into a casual hangout and nighttime feature with overhead lighting.
The DDA, who hopes to appoint their new executive director on May 23, is hoping to spearhead a project incorporating poetry into concrete.
“Hopefully this year, when DPW is resurfacing sections of sidewalk, we’re working on the mechanism of how we would be spelling out a little poetry into concrete,” Hartman said. “We’re not sure if it’ll be stamped or written, but that’s just one of the ideas we’re hoping to accomplish.”