Ada Covered Bridge Park: What Opened After the Delay

Drive past the fenced-in stretch of Leonard Field over the last two winters and you'd have seen the same thing both years: equipment parked for the season, no ribbon, no splash pad running, nothing to show for the plywood and orange netting except a sign promising something better was coming. It was supposed to be finished by December 2025, timed deliberately to the township's Covered Bridge Holiday Tree Lighting and Tinsel, Treats and Trolleys event. That didn't happen. The park that eventually opened arrived eight months later, in the middle of an August heat wave, not a December chill.

That gap between the promised date and the actual one is not a footnote. It's the reason this December will be the first time Ada's signature holiday gathering happens inside a finished park instead of around the edges of a construction zone, and it's worth understanding what changed between the two deadlines before you plan around the third one.

The Schedule Set at Groundbreaking

When Ada Township broke ground on Covered Bridge Park in September 2025, officials laid out a two-phase plan with specific dates attached. Wesley Deason, the township's Director of Parks and Recreation, described the sequence at the ceremony: the first phase would handle the north and south sides of the park, and the second phase would add the pedestrian bridge and trail connectivity across the Thornapple. Phase One had a hard target of December 2025, chosen specifically so the park would be ready for that year's holiday event. Phase Two, the pedestrian bridge linking the two halves, was targeted for June 2026.

Neither date held. The official ribbon-cutting for the completed 15-acre park happened on August 25, 2026, roughly eight months past the December target and two months past the June one. Construction projects slip. What makes this one worth noting is how specific and public the original dates were, and how directly they were tied to a community event residents look forward to every year.

What Actually Opened, Finally

The wait bought a park built in two distinct halves, connected for the first time by a new bridge over the river.

Covered Bridge Park South occupies the old Leonard Field site and functions as the active side. According to the township's park page, it includes:

• A large playground split into separate areas for younger and older children
• A splash pad ringed in synthetic turf, currently running seasonal hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
• A covered pavilion with ten picnic tables
• Year-round indoor restrooms, including an ADA-accessible adult changing station
• Two public pickleball courts
• A river overlook deck
• A small enclosed dog park with synthetic turf
• Open grass for informal use

Covered Bridge Park North sits across the river and holds a different register entirely. It's home to the Ada Veterans Memorial, formally dedicated on Memorial Day 2026 as part of the community's recognition of the nation's 250th anniversary. The north side is built for quiet: passive green space, a river overlook positioned beside the historic covered bridge itself, and views south toward the more active half of the park. The new pedestrian bridge is what makes both halves function as one destination instead of two separate green spaces that happen to share a name.

What the Delay Actually Cost, and Who Paid For It

The $8.5 million price tag is the number everyone quotes. Less discussed is how it was raised. The park page confirms the project came together largely through the Connecting Community campaign, a private fundraising effort launched in 2024, not a bond measure or a line item pulled from the general fund. By the time the township broke ground in September 2025, the campaign had already secured $7.3 million of its $8.5 million goal.

The land itself has a similar story. The parcel on the west side of the bridge was acquired by the township in 2023 through a gift from resident Cheri DeVos, who later became an honorary co-chair of the fundraising campaign. Steve and Amy Van Andel served as honorary co-chairs alongside her. Loren and Kelly Crandell and Joshua and Leslie Hulst led the campaign itself.

Lowell's First Look quoted DeVos in its report on the 2025 groundbreaking:

"My hope is that this new park will create fun opportunities for families, friends and neighbors to play together and make lasting memories while enjoying increased access to the historic Covered Bridge and beautiful Thornapple River."

That community-funded model was set to give way to a public funding stream. On August 4, 2026, Ada Township voters approved a new Parks, Recreation and Land Preservation millage at 1.2 mills, a measure expected to collect roughly $1.8 million in its first year starting with the December 2026 tax levy, according to the township's own announcement. Covered Bridge Park was built almost entirely on donations. Whatever comes next in the township's parks system will run on a dedicated public funding stream instead.

What This Means for December

The practical payoff of all this timeline-tracking comes with this December's event. Last December's Tinsel, Treats and Trolleys event happened without the park it was originally supposed to showcase, because Phase One wasn't finished in time. This year it will be. The splash pad won't be running by then. Its 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seasonal hours are a warm-weather feature, and Michigan's late-year weather will have shut that down well before the tree lighting arrives. But the playground, the pavilion, the pickleball courts, the dog park, the Veterans Memorial, and the pedestrian bridge linking both sides will all be standing and open for the first holiday season since the project broke ground.

In the shorter term, the township's Fall Clean-Up Day is scheduled for Saturday, October 17, 2026, a separate event from the park itself but one more marker on an active fall calendar. The land purchase that made the west side of the park possible, the trail connectivity DeVos described as central to the whole vision, and the new pedestrian bridge tying it together all point toward the same intent she stated when the project was still just a rendering: turning scattered green space along the Thornapple into a park with a playground, river overlooks, and a bridge connecting both banks of the Thornapple.

If you're weighing what a home near this stretch of the Thornapple actually offers day to day, or you're curious how projects like this shape the neighborhoods Kate Houseman works in across Ada and the surrounding area, reach out for a conversation about what's changing here and what it might mean for you.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.