RARE Increases Community Accessibility with New Park Amenities
Posted on December 17, 2025
The Recreation Authority of Roseville & Eastpointe (RARE) hopes that new park amenities at its campus will provide a common area for residents to gather and enjoy.
With the help of Anderson, Eckstein & Westrick, Inc. (AEW), RARE has built a new picnic pavilion with a barbecue, four pickleball courts, two cornhole courts, an expanded playground, a walking path, and a community garden on 1.86 acres at its Recreation Center campus, located at 18185 Sycamore St. in Roseville.
The AEW team started work on the project in April 2024, offering a full array of architectural, landscape architectural, and engineering services.
AEW’s design introduces a variety of new amenities to enhance the RARE park campus and serve the community. The plan includes new, competitively sized pickleball courts, as well as additional playscape features and safety surfacing.
The design also features an inclusive community garden with raised planter beds; a cornhole court with synthetic turf; and thoughtfully planned trees, native plantings, and other landscaping. New benches and picnic tables also provide additional places to sit.
In addition, AEW has provided grant administration services for a Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) recreation grant to help bring these improvements to life.
AEW Landscape and Urban Designer Courtney K. Sturgis provided landscape architectural design and grant administration for the project. She said AEW’s design looked at many of the new features through the lens of inclusivity, with the goal of creating a multigenerational and widely accessible space.
For instance, raised planter beds, ground surfacing, and ample spacing make the community garden easier for more people to utilize. Meanwhile, the pickleball courts feature wide gates and wide spaces around the courts so that people who use mobility devices can navigate.
“The new pavilion has an accessible grill that is lower to the ground and can be accessed from all sides,” Sturgis added. “The paved path is inclusive. … The width allows ample space for people to comfortably pass by each other … even two wheelchair users.”
Anthony Lipinski, RARE’s executive director, explained that the goal behind the park development project was to use the outdoor open space to its fullest potential. He said RARE already had two underutilized soccer fields behind its building, but little else to attract outdoor visitors. New park amenities are meant to “provide residents with a park that can be used for multiple purposes,” he said.
“I have received many comments from our Senior Citizens on how much they like the walking path,” Lipinski said. “The pickleball players are very anxious to use the new courts also. Many positive comments on the final project!”
Lipinski also praised a sustainable aspect of the project as different, functional and aesthetically pleasing — a special carport gutter is now designed to fill rain barrels that can water the community garden.
Construction on the RARE Park Development Project is expected to wrap up by the end of fall 2025.