The City of Saginaw Master Plan 2011 was adopted by resolution by the Saginaw City Council by authority of the Michigan Planning Enabling Act, Public Act 33 of 2008, on September 26, 2011. Click here to download the full document (26 MB).
The City of Saginaw Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at its meeting scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 23, 2011, in the Council Chamber, Room 205, City Hall, 1315 S. Washington Ave., Saginaw, for the purposes of hearing comments and input regarding the draft of the Saginaw Master Plan. If you are disabled and need accommodations to provide you with an opportunity to participate or observe, please contact the office of the Saginaw City Clerk at 759-1480.
The River Loop is a land use concept proposed in the draft of the Saginaw Master Plan. The River Loop recognizes the overall importance of the Saginaw River to the future of Saginaw. In short, the Saginaw River can be a catalyst for activity – it is the City’s best asset and most significant natural resource. And as luck would have it, surrounding the river are many exceptional cultural, entertainment, and recreational assets and attractions. The relationship of these attractions to the Saginaw River sets the stage for creating new opportunities.
Some of these assets include (click the map below for more) the Children’s Zoo, Farmers’ Market, Castle Museum, Temple Theater, Children’s Museum, Event Center, Celebration Park, Saginaw Art Museum, Pit and Balcony Community Theater, and the Old Saginaw City Lawn Chair Film Festival.
View River Loop in a larger map
The diversity of these assets and their concentration around the Saginaw River provides a framework to establish a core set of attractions and amenities that can be linked via a pathway loop around the river. Conceptually, the loop could be a pedestrian and bicycling path that runs along both sides of the Saginaw River and loops through the City’s core. Already on the east side of the Saginaw River there is a paved path from Rust Avenue to Genesee Street. The west side of the Saginaw River has not been developed for a pathway since much of the property is privately held. This area would require further study in order to determine potential routes. Other challenges would also have to be identified, such as funding to construct improvements and seeking additional ideas on how to further link the identified cultural, entertainment, and recreational assets to the Saginaw River. Generally, the River Loop boundary is defined by Ezra/Court Street, Michigan Avenue, Genesee Avenue, and Washington/M-13.
