"It's just like a car," Joshua Bernthal told the Boyne Citizen in September, talking about the city's playgrounds. "These things age and they need to be maintained, and the better you maintain them, the longer they last. But eventually they'll reach their service life."
Bernthal started in April as Boyne City's first Parks and Marina Supervisor. The position is new. Six months later, almost every change you will run into at a city park this winter comes from the same shift. Volunteers built much of what families use, and repeat use wore in the rest. The city has now started maintaining, replacing and formalizing those spaces on a schedule. The wooden playground at Veterans Park, the splash pad at Peninsula Beach and the unofficial ski lines on Avalanche all trace back to that.
Veterans Park reopened because the city caught up on old commitments
Volunteers built the wooden playground at Veterans Park in 2001 out of chromated copper arsenate-treated lumber. Testing in 2015 found arsenic levels above state residential standards. The fix was a remediation plan with Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy: seal the wood and keep protective ground cover underneath it. When Bernthal arrived this spring, he found that the maintenance required under that agreement had fallen behind.
The City Commission approved up to $26,000 to bring the site back into compliance. The playground closed on Sept. 14 while Rainey's Landscape remediated the ground, Lake Charlevoix Paint and Stain applied sealant, and Penchura LLC delivered new engineered wood fiber. At the Oct. 1 Main Street Board meeting, the commission liaison reported that the playground had reopened. The City Manager's Oct. 13 report confirmed the restoration was finished and said staff were still working on other safety issues.
Those other issues are the part of the story that is still open. A 2026 assessment found seven "Priority 1" hazards on the structure. Bernthal set a Sept. 30 meeting with Leathers, the playground's original manufacturer, to start a longer-term plan. According to the Oct. 13 City Commission packet, city staff described the structure as being in good condition. The Parks and Recreation Board will decide next steps and send a recommendation to the City Commission. Bernthal has said that any future work will try to keep the donated and personalized pieces families added when it was built.
So the playground is open this winter. Its long-term future goes back before the board.
Peninsula Beach shows what the schedule looks like when a structure has run out of years
Peninsula Beach gets no repair. Its main wooden playground was scheduled to be removed before Oct. 31. The city does not know exactly how old it is. Records show it went in sometime before 1994, and its built-in swings use a design that was prohibited beginning in 1993.
Two pieces from 2019 stay: the Cozy Dome and the saddle spinner. The city is aiming to start on a replacement in spring 2027. Bernthal estimates a playground of similar size could cost about $50,000 to $150,000. At its September meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commission named ground surfacing as a significant share of that cost and talked about accessible equipment and possible funding sources.
Accessibility is the biggest change on the table. "Currently, the city has no ADA-accessible play sites," Bernthal told the Boyne Citizen. He plans to apply for grants so the new Peninsula Beach playground works for children with a wider range of abilities.
The splash pad next to it shows the problem from the other end. Volunteers installed it three years ago, expecting little upkeep. Some of the plumbing underneath used off-the-shelf parts rather than products made for a commercial splash pad. Cracks underground now cause pressure loss. It ran partially last year and not at all this year. There is no firm cost or timeline for the repair, and Bernthal hopes to do the work alongside the new playground. "Any and all donations are appreciated for the playground projects," he said.
Avalanche gets structure around habits that already existed
At Avalanche Preserve, foot traffic was the problem. Work on the erosion control project began Sept. 22, and major construction started Sept. 28 near the summit. The Boyne Citizen reported that the project would redirect foot traffic, reduce the slope at the summit, and add plants and barriers to limit erosion. The City Manager's Oct. 13 report lists it as complete. On your next climb up the 462 steps, expect the top of the hill to send you along new routes.
The bigger change starts once there is snow. On June 23, the City Commission voted unanimously to let the Michigan Backcountry Alliance develop designated alpine touring corridors on the northeast side of the preserve for the 2026-27 season. As described in the Boyne Citizen's July 2 report, the plan works like this:
- Corridors will be 30 to 60 feet wide, cleared of deadfall from the March ice storm, with branches and dense saplings selectively trimmed.
- Mature trees stay, and the forest canopy is kept to hold snow.
- About 10% of the proposed area will be developed in the first season.
- Corridors end before they reach hiking trails, where barriers and signs direct skiers and snowboarders to take off their gear and walk back to the trail system.
- Bernthal must approve every corridor location and all vegetation work, and the Parks and Recreation Commission reviews the program after one year.
The city's June memo adds that the corridors stay off the face of Avalanche Hill and away from the summit stairway. Commissioner Beano Hampton noted at the meeting that people already ski the preserve informally, and said designated corridors would organize that use while limiting the impact on the land and other park users. The Alliance's own Michigan touring page says the areas it lists are unsupervised and not maintained for skiing or snowboarding.
Snowshoeing, sledding and the rest of the preserve's year-round uses continue alongside the corridors.
The smaller projects follow the same pattern
The same pattern shows up in projects that will never make the front page. Each one takes something worn, informal or temporary and puts it on a plan.
| Location | What's happening | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| North Lake Street boat launch, across from Family Fare | Closed while Manthei Construction replaces concrete and reduces the ramp's slope; EGLE approved the repairs | Oct. 26 through an expected Nov. 13 finish |
| Bay Township launch on Walloon Lake, Sumner Road | One-day repair to fill voids beneath the concrete ramp | Oct. 30 |
| Bay Street Lake Access Point | Stair installation on hold until the retaining wall is repaired | No date set |
| Community garden | Commission voted to support moving it to the Boyne City Industrial Park next to the Boyne River Nature Area | Recommended Oct. 8 |
| Sunset Park log cabin | To be renovated into a pavilion; the commission favored the name "Sunset Park Pavilion" | Request for Proposals is the next step |
| Skate park project | Presentation planned, with fundraising and community support still open questions | December |
| F. Grant Moore Municipal Marina | Off-season after the May 15 to Oct. 15 operating window | Closed for winter |
Anyone pulling a boat late this season should keep the north launch closure in mind. The work is meant to make launching easier once the ramp reopens. Bernthal is also building an inventory and assessment of every city park, with a maintenance plan meant to catch problems earlier. An updated park brochure is in draft, and the commission is set to discuss revisions at its November meeting.
Where to play this winter, and where the next decisions get made
With Peninsula Beach's main structure scheduled for removal, these are the options for families this winter:
- Veterans Park, which has reopened with fresh sealant and new engineered wood fiber.
- Peninsula Beach, where the Cozy Dome and saddle spinner stay put.
- Moll Park at 755 N. Lake St., which the city lists as having a maintained swing set.
- Young State Park at 2280 Boyne City Road, just outside town, where the Michigan DNR lists a playground.
- Rotary Park at 649 State St., for softball, baseball, soccer, pickleball and tennis.
The Parks and Recreation Commission holds its next regular meeting on Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 319 N. Lake St. The commission's agendas and minutes are where the Veterans Park recommendation and the Peninsula Beach replacement will move forward. For closures like the boat launch, the city sends real-time notices through its alerts sign-up.
At Pat O'Brien & Associates, our Boyne City office keeps up with these park changes because they show up in everyday life in town, from the walk to Veterans Park to a quiet morning at the top of Avalanche. If you'd like to talk through how projects like the Peninsula Beach replacement or the Sunset Park Pavilion affect a street you're watching, contact us.
