A beloved community park in Suttons Bay is getting a facelift designed to improve the appearance and health of a creek that runs through it.

Crews began work last week in Water Wheel Park, which sits at the intersection of Jefferson and St. Mary’s streets. They’re working to re-grade a creek that runs on the south side of the property, the first step in what may be several improvements there.

The park’s name comes from a water wheel that stood there for nearly 100 years, serving as the site of countless photos and memories for residents of the village and beyond. The wheel featured in roadside guides and was a part of Suttons Bay lore.

But the wheel and its crumbling concrete base came down in 2022 after falling into disrepair, much to the chagrin of some village residents. Later, village officials decided to not replace it and to instead restore the creek, which had been obstructed and otherwise altered by the wheel. The small, unnamed creek originates in the back side of the village and eventually empties into Suttons Bay.

“We hired a company that’s known for re-establishing and creating creek beds, and what they’re creating is a cascading stream,” Suttons Bay Village Manager Rob Larrea tells The Ticker. “They’re going to slope it out, recreate the bed to make it meandering, and create pockets with little falls.”

The company hired is GEI consultants, which counts an office in Traverse City among dozens of offices nationwide. The company offers a variety of ecological and environmental services, including remediation and restoration.

Creek work is expected to continue over the next several weeks. From there, officials are eyeing a “cultural ring” of stones, along with a general re-grading of that side of the park to make it more accessible, usable and sustainable.

“Eventually we’re going to have some pretty neat stuff up there,” Larrea says. “We want to make it (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant and bring some culture in.”

The park already contains two courts (for basketball and tennis) and open space. Larrea hopes that the work on the creek will soften the blow for those who were disappointed by the decision to not replace the wheel.

“There were a lot of memories created there. But do you want to try to chase the memories and try to recreate them, or do you want to create new ones by improving this park and making it so that the creek is the main focus?” he says. “This was the way to go.”