A new $2.23 million park was scheduled to open Wednesday, October 14, 2026, in Grand Rapids' Roosevelt Park neighborhood, complete with a hammock grove, an inclusive playground, and a name that only became official after a bruising community vote. Unity Park, located at 680 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue SW, was scheduled to host its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony that day from 4 to 5 p.m., featuring speeches from city leaders, live music, and refreshments.
A Park Born From a Naming Fight
The road to Wednesday's celebration wasn't simple. As reported by 97.9 WGRD, Grand Rapids held an initial public vote on the park's name in 2024, and Navarro Plaza — honoring Miguel and Isabel Navarro, founders of the El Matador chip factory — won by a slim margin.
Community debate followed, with residents arguing for a broader engagement process and a name that better represented the neighborhood park, per WGRD's reporting. City leaders ultimately ordered a runoff in 2025, and this time the result was lopsided in the other direction. City of Grand Rapids records show Unity Park won with 232 of 415 ballots cast.
Honoring a Family's Legacy Elsewhere
The reversal wasn't painless for supporters of the original name. City leaders have committed to finding another way to honor the Navarro family's legacy in the area, WGRD reports, and background from the Grand Rapids Public Museum notes that Miguel “Mike” and Isabel Navarro founded the El Matador Chip Factory in Grand Rapids in 1976, building a commercial legacy city officials have pledged to mark with a separate future memorial.
To make sure the 2025 runoff reflected the neighborhood's actual makeup, outreach materials — including mailed postcards, online polls, and construction site banners — were published in English, Spanish, and Swahili, according to the city's public hearing documentation. Postcards went out to 1,568 households within a quarter-mile of the park site. The city's Park Naming Policy requires potential park names to carry generational historical or social significance.
What's Inside the New Park
Beyond the naming saga, the finished park is packed with amenities drawn directly from resident input. Per WGRD, Unity Park includes an inclusive play zone with a nest swing and rubberized surfacing, a hammock grove, café-style seating beneath a shaded tree canopy, and a multi-use gathering plaza intended for local vendors and community pop-ups. Rounding out the design are upgraded safety lighting, connected bike paths, and water bottle filling stations.
The city also built in environmental features, including an on-site rain garden for natural stormwater drainage and shaded tree canopy, according to the City of Grand Rapids. Construction was funded through a mix of a Michigan enhancement grant, the city's parks capital fund, and local nonprofit support, WGRD reports. That capital fund draws from Grand Rapids' Parks, Pools and Playgrounds Millage, a permanent millage approved by city voters in 2019, according to Grand Rapids Magazine.
A Piece of Neighborhood History, Preserved
One of the park's more distinctive touches ties the new space to the neighborhood's past. The interpretive kiosk incorporates a historic cupola salvaged from the former St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, a neighborhood sanctuary originally built at 333 Rumsey Street in 1888, according to Rapid Growth Media. The church building had been acquired by Habitat for Humanity before it was cleared for redevelopment.
That redevelopment is the larger story behind Unity Park. The park is part of Plaza Roosevelt, a $40 million neighborhood initiative launched in 2017 by Habitat for Humanity of Kent County and eight local partner organizations to expand affordable housing, healthcare, and educational space in Roosevelt Park, according to WGVU News. The new park is the visible, public-facing centerpiece of a redevelopment effort nearly a decade in the making.
For now, the open question is how — and when — the city will follow through on its promise to honor the Navarro family's legacy somewhere else in Roosevelt Park. The Oct. 14 ribbon-cutting was scheduled to close one chapter of that story while leaving another still to be written.
