Organization

Multimillion-dollar horse park approved for Jackson County

By Jackie Smith
October 16, 2009

A multimillion-dollar horse park is coming to northern Jackson County.

The Enterprise Group of Jackson was one of three groups to submit a project proposal to the Michigan Equine Partnership last June. It was selected by the Partnership on Wednesday to construct the park, which could include show arenas, a convention center, stalls for 2,000 horses or other livestock and campgrounds.

Scott Fleming, president and CEO of the Enterprise Group, said its selected proposal was founded on boosting Jackson County’s tourism industry.

“This is a beginning to going up the hill for economic prosperity,” he said. “It’s one of those giant steps to bring in tourism. To look at what we have, we need to accentuate and embrace that aspect.”

The cost of the project would be tens of millions of dollars, Fleming said, but the location of the park isn’t being released because of incomplete property agreements. It would be funded through private investors.

It was the group’s director of its small business technology center, Roni Weaver, Fleming said, who sparked the motivation to pursue such a project.

“I’ve always believed that if a person has a passion to do something, you’re going to make it happen,” he said. “Roni’s passion was putting a horse park together.”

Aaron Price, the Partnership’s president, said he expects to hash out the planned facility’s designs, set plans, price and a time schedule with the Enterprise Group within the next week and to complete that process within 90 days.

He said their proposal was selected because of its location near the two major interstate highways and an adjacent property that is already developed into horse riding trails.

In building a park, Price said he hopes to open state residents’ eyes to the prominence of the horse industry.

“Equine in Michigan is huge,” he said.

“Agriculture is the second largest industry in this state. This is a long overdue project.”

The Partnership, which is based in Lansing and promotes the horse industry, had received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2007 to determine the feasibility of building a multi-purpose equine park in southern Michigan.

Among the site criteria, Price said was also the need to service five states.

Proposals had also been received from the Springport Township Equine Partners and a group supported by the Albion Economic Development Corp. and Albion College.

When they were submitted last spring, proposals had to include open space at least 600 acres in size and ready access to hotels, freeways and restaurants.

Val Vail-Shirey, executive director of the Partnership, said they’d researched and performed in-depth site visits during the last few months to pick a proposal.

The Partnership had originally planned to pick a site in September, she said, but identifying a proposal that “would really unite the equine industry” took longer than planned.

“People don’t realize the number of horses we have and how sizable the industry is,” Vail-Shirey said.

Reasons for building a park came from the state’s lack of investment in the industry, she said, recalling stories of Michigan equine groups hosting annual national equine competitions in other states.

“We want to bring those to Michigan,” Vail-Shirey said. “That will have a very positive economic impact to the state with a showplace that is economically viable and attractive.”