Van Buren Township

Van Buren Township Celebrates Community Center Ground Breaking Ceremony


We are very excited to announce that the long-awaited Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new Community Center took place on January 31st at 3:00 p.m. at Van Buren Township Hall.

Several Wayne County Executives, Township board members, and staff attended this event.  Even though it was a cold day,  many residents came out to share their enthusiasm for the new Community Center. 

Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad Turfe, Township Clerk Leon Wright, and Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara spoke at the event.

“We want to work with our communities,” said Deputy Executive Turfe. “Other places used a lot of the money on themselves. We decided we wanted to use most of it out in the communities. We assessed projects, and this was one we felt was important to the County and Van Buren Township and we’re glad to be a part of it,” he said. 

Supervisor Kevin McNamara acknowledged all the officials and entities that made the vision possible, with support from Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans, Commissioner Al Haidous, the Van Buren Township DDA, Van Buren Civic Fund. In addition, he thanked the Community Services Director Elizabeth Renaud, Deputy Director Tammy Dohring, and Recreation Director Jennifer Zaenglein.

“Years ago, the Recreation Committee put a proposal together to the Board of Trustees to look into building a Community Center,” said Clerk Wright. “Now here we are today. I’m ecstatic that a beautiful Community Center is being constructed and the residents of Van Buren Township are finally going to have something to call our own,” he said.    

The project is renovating the current Community Center while adding 21,763 sq. ft. It should be complete by spring 2024.

To learn more about the new Community Center, please visit our Community Center page here.

To view our online photo gallery for the event, click here.