Leland, Michigan

Leland Village Green

Problem

Public assets—parks, greens, waterways, buildings—slip into neglect, privatization, or misuse when no one clearly owns their care.

Solution

The Leland Village Green is a one-acre open space at 206 N. Main Street in Leland, Michigan (population 410 in 2020), bought in 1990 for $460,000 by the Leelanau Conservancy, a land trust founded in 1988, after the owner had considered a 20-to-30-shop complex on the former Manitou Island ferry parking lot and a spring 1989 community survey favored full open space. The Conservancy owns and maintains it; volunteer Village Green Gardeners (the Leland Dirt Club) built and kept its perennial gardens until 2009, the Conservancy's Wildflower Rescue Committee plants rescued natives and holds a Memorial Day weekend plant sale there whose proceeds fund the green's upkeep, and the site hosts a donor tile wall, a Monarch Waystation, concerts, a tree lighting and school events.

Patterns used: Commons Stewardship

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