Contact:
Kathleen Achtenberg, MEDC
517.489.0557
[email protected]

Ian Helman
Hancock Trails Club Board Member
906.231.3000
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2025

$50,000 goal to win matching grant through MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places initiative

LANSING, Mich. – The Hancock Trails Club (HTC) is creating a new bike park and bike trailhead at the Hancock Recreation Area and connecting to the Maasto Hiihto and Churning Rapids trail system. This effort will be fulfilled through the anticipated success of a crowdfunding campaign that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and HTC announced today, which is being offered through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity.

If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 by August 6^th, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places (PSCP) program. For project details and to donate, please visit: patronicity.com/hancock.

“This new bike park and trailhead will make great public use of a vacant but well-situated parcel,” said MEDC Regional Prosperity Managing Director Paula Holtz. “We are pleased to support and provide resources for this effort through our Public Spaces Community Places program.”

The funding from this campaign will transform the long-vacant “old sledding hill” parcel on M203, which has always been referred to as the Grill House Trailhead by locals, referring to the nearby closed North Shore Grill N Pub. Most community members and visitors are hardly aware of its existence and its proximity to the area’s most surreal creek side trail. Bringing new life to this empty City of Hancock lot will enhance both local and visitor outdoor recreation experiences and make great use of a currently underutilized public space.

The bike park and trailhead will connect to the Maasto Hiihto Trail System, which is a multi-use, silent sport recreation area that features the area’s premier natural asset: The Swedetown Creek Gorge. The Churning Rapids Trails provide an intimate, backcountry type of experience. Today, the teamwork of HTC and the City remains integral not only in maintaining and grooming 25 kilometers of trails spanning Maasto Hiihto and Churning Rapids for winter use, but also in ensuring the trails remain available for a variety of silent sport uses, year-round.

“The purpose of this project is to create a new outdoor recreation destination in Hancock by building a welcoming trailhead and mountain bike skill park on a city-owned parcel that is strategically located adjacent to the Hancock Beach and Campground, Maasto Hiihto Churning Rapids trail system, and the Swedetown Creek and Gorge. The Public Spaces Community Places matching grant enables Hancock Trails Club to construct a modern professionally built skills area that encompass all ages and confidence levels,” said Ian Helman, Hancock Trails Club Board Member. “The end result of this project will tie together and showcase the existing park amenities of the Hancock Beach and Campground with an expanse of outdoor space available for trail-based recreation and ecotourism, thus creating a sustainable recreation asset for both locals and visitors to enjoy.”

Public Spaces Community Places is a collaborative effort of the MEDC, the Michigan Municipal League and Patronicity, in which local residents can use crowdfunding to be part of the development of strategic projects in their communities and be backed with a matching grant from MEDC. Communities, nonprofits and other business entities can apply at https://patronicity.com/puremichigan.

“Outdoor recreation is a huge part of Michigan’s culture, and revitalized spaces like this bike park are a great way to create more recreational opportunities for visitors of all ages and differing levels of mountain biking ability,” said Dan Gilmartin, Executive Director and CEO of the Michigan Municipal League. “This is exactly what activating spaces in communities is all about.”

The Public Spaces Community Places initiative started in 2014 with MEDC providing matched funding of up to $50,000 for community improvement projects throughout Michigan. As of July 1, 2025, MEDC has provided more than $14.3 million in matching grants. Since the launch of the program, 414 projects have been successful in reaching their goal, with more than $16.3 million raised from 75,885 individual donors. Communities have a 97 percent success rate in achieving their goals and earning matching funds.

Michigan Municipal League is dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities. The League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services. Learn more at mml.org. 

# # #