2006
The city started planning for the large gathering place and recreation spot. A South Haven Area
Recreational Park (SHARP) agency was established to lead the effort.

2008
SHARP identified a site for the park located in Casco Township off 71st Street, north of 103rd Avenue.
The City of South Haven purchased a 96-acre site in Casco Township for $423,000, with SHARP to repay
the cost to the city. Fundraising efforts for the first phase targeted $1.6 million to develop the park.
Plans called for soccer fields, tennis courts, ball diamonds, picnic areas, walking trails and sledding hills.

2010
The South Haven Area Recreation Authority (SHARA) was established “to initially provide to the
acquisition, construction, operation, maintenance and improvement of the land and facilities that may
now or subsequently comprise the South Haven Area Recreational Park (SHARP).” The establishment of
a recreation authority also provided eligibility to apply to grant funding sources.

2015
Development of the Casco site proved to be problematic and costly and so SHARA hired a consulting
firm to perform a Recreation Assessment of potential sites for the recreation park.
During the evaluation, a site along Ay|worth Avenue, south of the high school, was identified for soccer
field development. Project design was completed in late 2015.

2016
The soccer field project at the Ay|worth Avenue location was placed out to bid March 2016. Submitted
bids were much higher than the available budget, so the project was put on hold while additional
funding sources were sought.
The SHARA elected to move forward on steps to purchase a 40 acre parcel along 14″ Avenue to develop
into its new recreation park. It submitted an acquisition grant request of $300,000 to the Michigan
Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) program to acquire the 14* Avenue parcel. Grant funding was
awarded in December 2016.

2017
SHARA submitted a MNRTF grant application requesting $300,000 toward developing the first phase of
the 14* Avenue parcel. The MNRTF program is a highly competitive program, and the application
request was not funded.
SHARA submitted a Recreation Passport grant application request of $75,000 for Ay|worth Avenue
soccer fields to offset the higher costs for its development. The application request was not funded.

2018
SHARA submitted a MNRTF application request of $291,600 to help pay for the development of soccer
fields along Aylworth Avenue. The application was not funded.

2019
SHARA redirected its efforts for soccer park development and submitted a $300,000 MNRTF grant
request for soccer field development at the 14″ Avenue site. Facing another highly competitive year, the
application was not funded.

2020
Continuing its pursuit of funding to develop the 14*h Avenue site, SHARA submitted grant applications to
both the MNRTF and Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) programs for phase 1 development.
The project was awarded $300,000 in grant funding from the LWCF program. SHARA is currently waiting
for project agreements to be issued for phase 1 development.

2026 South Haven Field of Dreams was formed to develop plans to complete the work