HANCOCK, Mich. (WJMN) – The City of Hancock hosted a Master Plan open house Thursday night at the Orpheum Theater.
The city is currently developing its master plan for what the next five years will look like and develop for Hancock in terms of sustainability, housing, recreation, resiliency and economic development. Thursday night completed phase four of six of developing the Master Plan, which focused on community and public input on what they wanted the City of Hancock to look like within the next five years. City Manager Mary Babcock said feedback and suggestions from the public on these topics is invaluable.
“This is what we use as our goal setting for the next five years,” explained Babcock. “Having the public show up and tell us what they think, tell us where we should go, [and] give us ideas is a value that’s hard to [even] define.”
Babcock also said that the City of Hancock is in a unique position right now while they develop their Master Plan.
“With Finlandia’s closure, after 130 years we do have vacant buildings. So, this is why the master plan at this point really needs to be engaged and have this public input to try to come up with new ideas and possibilities for the future,” said Babcock.
Many folks came out Thursday night to give their input, and some of the suggestions ranged from changes to US-41, to even creating an arts & culture commission for the city. Babcock said the rough draft for the Master Plan should be completed in October/November, and finalized in December.
