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http://www.hastingsmutual.comGaines Township ponders future land use along booming corridor
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Gaines Charter Township
planners intend to update
their future land use plan
soon for the ever-growing
manufacturing area south of
68th Street SE, just west of
the M-37 corridor.
Amazon drew regional
attention last year when it
opened a $150 million ful-
fillment center on 68th Street
SE, near Patterson Avenue
west of the Caledonia
Township line.
Steelcase once owned the
large-scale development and
had plans for building a cam-
pus in that area. But econom-
ic shifts prompted the office
furniture maker to sell off
much of its undeveloped
land in recent years. Several
other large companies have
been setting up shop in that
section of southern Kent
County in recent years, as
well.
Siliconature Corp., which
makes silicone-coated films
for adhesive tapes and labels,
opened a $20 million manu-
facturing plant at 4255 68th
Street SE a few years ago.
That’s just east of East Paris
Avenue and the Amazon dis-
tribution center. Old
Dominion Freight Lines
recently moved into a
43,000-square-foot trucking
terminal on 68th Street,between East Paris and
Patterson.
A distribution center for
Great Lakes Coca-Cola is
proposed just south of the
Old Dominion facility, along
Rapids Drive at 68th Street.
Building permits are being
sought, township Community
Development Manager Dan
Wells said.
“We’ve always anticipated
industrial or light industrial
growth in there,” he said.
“It’s just such a good loca-
tion for it, because you’ve
got Patterson that goes north/
south there, and you’re right
by the intersection of M-
and M-6. So, it’s a very good
location for any trucking or
shipping concerns.
“Plus, the [Gerald R. Ford
International] airport is
located a little bit north and
east of there, too. So, it’s a
really good transit point for
both air shippers and for
trucking. There’s a good con-
fluence for transportation.”
Wells admitted residents
have expressed concern
about growing traffic con-
gestion in the area.
“They’re concerned about
that more than anything
else,” he said. “But I think
people welcome the jobs that
those companies provide,
and understand that that kind
of growth is going to happen.
They’re used to that ideafrom when the Pyramid
[Steelcase Corporate
Development Center] came
in [in the 1980s]. And there’s
been some light industrial
growth in that area, just
organically.”
Township board trustee
Tim Haagsma said in a sepa-
rate interview that a traffic
impact study has been done
in recent years for every
development in the general
vicinity of 68th Street, west
of Patterson Avenue.
“Based on that traffic
impact study, the developers
have done certain improve-
ments to the intersections out
there,” Haagsma said.
The most recent traffic
study completed was for a
second sortation station pro-
posed for the north side of
68th Street SE. Ryan
Company has proposed
building it immediately west
of Patterson Avenue SE. It
would include additional
parking for tractor trailers.
Haagsma also serves as
public safety director for the
Kent County Road
Commission. He said the
sortation station is the next
level of the Amazon distribu-
tion chain, where mail is
routed to a final delivery
point.
“It’s where they take the
trailers and they bring the
[packages] there, and thenthey put it on the vans that
bring it to your house,” he
said.
The township planning
commission could consider
the proposal for approval as
soon as its May 27 meeting.
That would entail a public
hearing for the site plan
review.
“It would be for the kind
of people who are waiting to
pick up or drop off, so they
have a place to stop,” Wells
said. “It’s not going to be a
truck stop, per se, but there
will be facilities and bath-
rooms for the drivers. So
they have a place they can
hang out for a couple hours
while they’re waiting.
Hopefully, that will come on
line when that parcel gets
developed.”
Township Supervisor Rob
DeWard sat in on a township
supervisors’ meeting May 10
with The Right Place region-
al economic development
team. He said that organiza-
tion is “really excited” about
the growth opportunities in
Gaines Township with
Amazon and other compa-
nies now in the area. So is
DeWard.
“Yeah, I mean you bring
in 4,000 jobs, and they’re not
all Gaines residents.” He
said metals and plastics dis-
tributor Alro Steel also is
moving into the area, in theRobert Grooters Industrial
Building, 4284 60th Street
SE.
Major roads such as 68th
Street, Patterson and East
Paris are built for the heavy
trailer-tractor traffic that
accompanies large manufac-
turing plants like Amazon.
However, there have been
some complaints about
trucks parking along Rapids
Drive at 68th Street, causing
congestion.
“When Coca-Cola was
trying to build out their area,
the tractor-trailers [driven by
subcontracted deliverers]
became such a problem that
the Kent County Sheriff’s
Department and the [county]
road commission startedtalking to Amazon about it.
And Amazon told its employ-
ees not to park there,” Wells
said.
Township Planning
Commission Chairwoman
Connie Giarmo said, “Traffic
is something we’re going to
have to be mindful of. 68th
Street has been widened and
expanded over the last 10
years from Dutton out to the
[East] Beltline.
“So it is able to handle
traffic. But the companies
have been pretty willing to
work with each other and the
township to stagger the
shifts, and when [truck] traf-
fic is coming in and out. So,
we’re working to make sure
it’s manageable.”Celebration Cinema South
set to reopen after getting OK
to serve alcohol to movie-goers
James Gemmell
Contributing writer
Celebration Cinema South
in Gaines Charter Township
reopened Thursday, after
being shut down for 14
months due to the COVID-
19 pandemic. And beginning
next month, for the first time
ever, adult customers will be
able to buy a glass of wine or
a beer to enjoy while watch-
ing a movie there.
The township board unan-
imously adopted an amend-
ment to the township
liquor-control ordinance
during its May 10 meeting.
The measure allows theaters
with 10 or more movie
screens to serve alcohol to
movie-goers.
The 10-screen Celebration
Cinema South multiplex, at
1506 Eastport Dr. SE, is
immediately north of M-
and west of Kalamazoo
Avenue SE. It’s been closed
since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
signed an executive order
March 16, 2020, to close
indoor dining and entertain-
ment venues due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Celebration South is one
of only two theaters in the
Celebration Cinema chain
that had not reopened. The
other is at Meridian Mall in
Okemos. A limited number
of Hollywood movie releases
so far this year is one of the
reasons the doors have
remained closed, said Emily
Loeks, director of communi-
ty affairs with Studio C,
which owns and operates
Celebration Cinema theaters.
Loeks said the increasing
number of films being
released now is one reason
that prompted reopening of
Celebration South. The ordi-
nance change to allow liquor
sales is the other reason.
“It’s because, basically,
we’re getting more movie
content and we’re expecting
a robust-enough summer
business that it merits open-
ing all four of our Grand
Rapids theaters,” Loeks said
in an interview. “So that’s
what the timing consider-
ation is. But important to our
business model is expanded
food and beverage.”
It’s no secret that movie
theaters make most of their
money off concession sales.
Studio C did have an event
license for beer and wine
sales at Celebration South,
but it was restricted to private
events such as banquets, and
wasn’t raising much revenue.
In fact, Loeks said the event
license cost more than the
sales proceeds were bringing
in. Studio C had filed an
application with Gaines
Township asking to serve
alcohol as part of the regular
movie-going experience
nearly two years ago. But the
township board resisted
approving the application
until now.
“We always kind of pushed
back on that a little bit,”
township Supervisor Rob
DeWard said. “But when we
see an empty building sitting
there for nearly a year, and
we know how hard the coro-
navirus has been on theaters
... you realize it’s not going
to open unless we help them
out in that process.”
Loeks said the expand-
ed-beverage menu also will
lead to more items beingadded to the food menu. “So,
more people will be able to
enjoy dinner and a wine, or
dinner and a beer while
watching a sports game or a
movie,” she said.
The timing is good with
summer fast approaching,
and more and more movies
starting to be released as the
pandemic begins to wind
down. Loeks figures that will
lead to “slightly higher”
movie attendance than what
Celebration Cinema has
experienced so far this year.
She said a designated area
of the concession stand will
be set up for the alcohol
sales, rather than building out
a side bar. “We’ll be launch-
ing limited bar options by the
beginning of June,” Loeks
said.
Several other Celebration
Cinema locations opened last
October, after statewide
restrictions on theaters relat-
ed to the pandemic were
relaxed. But the Michigan
Department of Health and
Human Services issued an
epidemic order in November,
closing movie theaters
around the state again. That
order was lifted in January.
The township’s communi-
ty development director, Dan
Wells, said having alcohol
sales in a designated part of
the concession stand at
Celebration Cinema South
will mirror what other
Celebration Cinema loca-
tions already have been
doing.
“We’re looking forward to
them opening as soon as pos-
sible,” he said.Gun Lake area church
hosting blood drive
Saints Cyril and
Methodius Church near Gun
Lake will host a blood drive
from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday,
May 25.
The church is at 159 -
131st Avenue, just west of
the Patterson and Cobb Lake
roads intersection. Versiti
(formerly Michigan Blood)
will be the service provider.
“Donations have dropped
recently, falling short due to
spring break trips and
increased cancellations,”
organizer Sandra Marcukaitis
said. “This means our
communities are facing a
potential crisis, and blooddonations are needed
immediately.”
Anyone over 17 years of
age, who weighs more than
110 pounds may be eligible
to be a donor.
“Be sure to eat a healthy
meal and drink plenty of
water before donating,” she
said.
Questions can be
answered and appointments
made by calling 269-792-
3543 or Versiti blood Center,
866-MIBLOOD.
Appointments are
preferred, but walk ins are
welcome, Marcukaitis said.