Northville Parks and Recreation is in a renaissance of sorts revamping the department, forging partnerships with community businesses and many other changes on the horizon.

Director Derek Smith, who was hired in July 2023, is heralding in a plethora of initiatives to rebrand the department.

One of the most visible is establishing set service hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Recreation Center at Hillside and the Northville Community Center. This is a big switch from the sporadic office hours that became the norm during the pandemic.

“Northville Parks and Recreation needs to provide better customer service to our residents by having our offices and staff available during normal business hours,” Smith said.

He is also rolling in a new program giving businesses an opportunity to sponsor Northville Parks and Recreation programs. It helps the department defray costs and it gives businesses a chance to get their name advertised at an event and on social media posts from the Parks and Recreation.

“We’re really excited to start forging these partnerships,” Smith said, adding that the goal is to promote healthy lifestyles.

A sponsorship book outlines all of the opportunities organizations have to align with the department.

“Businesses can sponsor a program or an event, and their support helps us produce a better product for the community,” Smith said. “It gives those folks exposure and it helps us put out better programs, more than we could provide through our operating budget. Our department is only as strong as our community partners.”

Smith said the robust program is among many ideas he and his team are using to usher in what Supervisor Mark J. Abbo has dubbed the “golden age of recreation.”

“One of the things we’re branding toward is that Northville has a forested residential aesthetic, a historic downtown, miles of pathways and trails, a robust park local system, an incredible county park system and a huge state park,” Smith said.

The rebranding campaign tag line is “A community within a park,” with miles of non-motorized pathways and parks – some connecting to area communities.

“This is a regional approach and that helps the Northville community,” Smith said. “People want more pathways and more trails.”

Other evidence that change is on the way happened last summer, when the department opened the community’s first cricket pitch at Millennial Park. The City of Northville is beginning the Downs Project with several parks to be added with a riverfront walkway, and the township is starting to develop the 350-acre Legacy Park.

Recreation patrons also noticed a lot of new faces in the department, including Greg Morris, who was hired as assistant director last summer – among other new hires.

“We’re taking a blank canvas approach,” Smith said. “What are the issues? How can it be more successful? We are building this department up from the ground and asking, ‘How we can provide a better service model focusing on health and wellness, environmental conservation and economic prosperity?’”

The focus begins with deciding what people think about recreation.

One hundred percent of people in the community benefit from recreation, he said.

“It brings people together forming bonds – community stewardship is our approach in promoting a strong sense of place,” he added. “The building we will do will only be successful if we align ourselves toward common goals, which is a healthy, striving Northville.”