Rotary Square

Rotary Square’s final design concept is here! Using 9 months of data from community input and feedback on design concepts and features, a design reflecting the community’s vision for this public space has been developed and is ready to be shared.

Project Background
First identified in the original TIF-97 plan, the Downtown Development Authority sought the perfect location for a civic square downtown. In 2020, the DDA purchased the site at the corner of State and Union from TCF Bank for $1.75 million with the support of grants from Rotary Charities and the State of Michigan. Since then, the DDA has cleared and seeded the site, as well as added a formal sign to honor the ongoing contributions of Rotary Charities to our community.

Imagine Rotary Square Public Engagement Opportunities
The DDA launched “Imagine Rotary Square,” a public engagement initiative where all Traverse City residents were invited to share their vision of the square, in January 2025.

Imagine Rotary Square opened with a survey in January 2025, followed by an open house held in February, to gather public input to inform the design concept of Rotary Square. Pop up events were hosted throughout the community to gather feedback where residents already were.

Using that public input, the preliminary design concepts were unveiled for further public feedback at an open house in May, followed by a public survey. A second open house was held in July, followed by another public survey. A final concept, refined with public feedback to the preliminary designs, was approved by the DDA Board of Directors in October.

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