Grand Rapids Drive - WKTV Journal

West Michigan Lutheran and West Michigan Aviation Academy, shown in a WKTV featured game from last year, are among the small high school teams featured in the Drive Winter Classic. (WKTV)

WKTV Staff

The WKTV sports broadcast team is in the midst of taking a holiday break, returning with basketball Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, and hockey the next day. But there is some local high school action this week and next including several local basketball tournaments highlighted by a special small-high-school basketball tournament at a big-time venue — The Drive Winter Classic at The Deltaplex Arena in Grand Rapids.

“The tournament was put together to feature the talent in small school basketball,” Eric Frohriep, President of the All-Star Officials Association, said to WKTV. “The Grand Rapids Drive have been working with me to put this on. … The officials are donating their game fees to raise travel expenses to work the National Dwarf Games in Orlando, Fl., this summer.”

The bracket for the tournament will begin at The Deltaplex on Thursday, Jan. 4 at noon with a boys game between Grand River Preparatory High School and Calhoun Christian High School. That game will be followed, at 4 and 6 p.m., by another boys game featuring West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science (WMAES) and Holt’s Martin Luther High School, and then by a girls game between WMAES and West Michigan Lutheran High School. (The Calhoun Christian girls team has a bye and will automatically advance to the tournament finals.)

The tournament will conclude Friday, Jan. 5, at The Deltaplex with the boys championship at 1:30 p.m. and the girls championship at 3:30 p.m.

All games are $5 to attend. and following the girls title game, fans can also Fans buy tickets for the Wisconsin Herd vs. Grand Rapids Drive game at 7 p.m.

The consolation game of the boys bracket will be played at West Michigan Lutheran, with the boys game at 6 p.m.

The girls team of Cedar Spring’s Creative Technologies Academy is also participating, but is not a MHSAA school so are not in the tournament portion of the Classic, Frohriep said. They are playing the Calhoun Christian girls at 2 p.m. at The Deltaplex on Jan. 4, and playing the loser of the girls opening round game at West Michigan Lutheran, also on Jan. 5.

For more information visit about The Deltaplex Arena visit deltaplex.com. For more information on the All-Star Officials Association visit their Facebook page.

Small high schools will also be the focus of the return of WKTV’s high school sports coverage in the new year.

WKTV’s sports crew will be on the road Jan. 5 with a doubleheader of boys and girls basketball, with Grand River Preparatory High School at Wyoming Potter’s House on the girls side, and Kelloggsville High School at The Potter’s House High School on the boys side. Then on Jan. 6, the crew will be at South Christian High School for a boys hockey game against Catholic Central High School.

Currently, each Tuesday game will be broadcast that night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 at 11 p.m. and repeat on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Each Friday game will be aired that night on WKTV 25 at 11 p.m. and repeat Saturday at 11 a.m. The games can also be seen on AT&T U-verse 99.

For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and features on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports/

Local high school sports events this week are as follows:

Wednesday, Dec. 27

Boys/Girls Bowling

Godwin Heights @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

Wyoming @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

Kelloggsville @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

East Kentwood @ Catholic Central – Baker Tourney

Girls Basketball

Godwin Heights vs TBD @ Kelloggsville Holiday Tourney

Boys Basketball

TBD @ Wyoming Lee – Rebel Basketball Tourney

Thursday, Dec. 28

Girls Basketball

Godwin Heights vs TBD @ Kelloggsville Holiday Tourney

Boys Basketball

TBD @ Wyoming Lee – Rebel Basketball Tourney

East Kentwood @ Muskegon Reeths-Puffer

Friday, Dec. 29

Boys Basketball

Godwin Heights vs FH Central @ Cornerstone University

Potter’s House @ Holton

Boys Hockey

Muskegon Mona Shores @ East Kentwood

Girls Basketball

Potter’s House @ Holton

Saturday, Dec. 30

Girls Cheer

Kelloggsville @ Delton-Kellogg

Girls Basketball

East Kentwood @ Detroit Northwestern

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

Just a month short of the four-year mark when the City of Wyoming first introduced the concept of 28 West, city officials will gather with city leaders and business representatives to celebrate the the project that lead to the completion of the first half of the road.

This Saturday, Oct. 21, there will be a ribbon-cutting and grand re-opening celebration of the 28 West Place, formerly Wyoming Village Mall, at 1:30 p.m. with additional events to follow. The ribbon cutting ceremony is hosted by the Wyoming-Kentwood Chamber of Commerce.

“This is a hallmark change in the corridor here that we have been hoping for a number of years…” said Mayor Jack Poll.

In 2013, the City of Wyoming adopted a plan for the reimagine of the south side of 28th Street between Clyde Park and Burlingame avenues in to a mixed-use town center utilizing form-based code, which provides flexibility to developers. A key element to the 28 West concept was the construction of a curving slip street which would become the center’s new “main street.” The street was designed to run from the south side of 28th Street across from Hook Avenue to Jenkins Avenue, which runs next to the former Klingman/Rogers Department Store building. Because the plan involved demolition of buildings on privately held property, city officials knew it would take some time to get all parties on board with the plan.

Jumping forward to 2016 when Meyer C. Weiner Company, which owns 28 West Place, approached the city about renovation plans for the mall property which was originally developed in 1962 and known as Southland Mall. Those plans included 20,000 square feet of new entry efficient building space and two out-lot buildings of approximately 11,000 square feet, long with significant property improvements to upgrade the existing retail center and its surface parking lot.

Seeing the opportunity to move forward with the 28 West Street plan, the City of Wyoming officials entered into a $1.6 million agreement with Meyer C. Weiner Company so as to move forward with the first phase of the 28 West Street project from Hook Avenue to Michael Avenue. This past week, the City Council finalized some of the details by placing an all-the-way stop sign at the 28 West Place service drive along the west side of the mall.

“We are excited to commemorate this first stage of redevelopment,” said Megan Sall, assistant city manager and Downtown Development Authority director. “There are so many opportunities inherent in this area and we’re pleased to have a partner in Meyer C. Weiner Company as we set the stage for future growth.”

Overview of the new 2 West Place with the 28 West Street.

Matthew McDade, chief operating officer for the Meyer C. Weiner Company, also points to partnerships as being key to this project’s success. “The Meyer C. Weiner Company would like to thank all the staff and officials at the City of Wyoming who worked extremely hard to make this redevelopment possible, along with the stakeholders for the successful completion of this project.”

As the renovation project got underway, Mr. Alan’s, a clothing store, leased a 5,400-square-foot out-lot building and opened in June. Other new tenants include CSL Plasma which opened in April, and Simply 10, a clothing store, is expected to opening late October. The current tenants of 28 West Place also include a Save-A-Lot, DollarTree, Payless Shoes, and the children’s consignment store Once Upon a Child.

28 West Place retailers will be hosting a series of events from 2 – 4 p.m. which include the Grand Rapids Drive’s mascot Buckets, signed Red Wings photos, face-painting for kids, a live remote with 95.7 WLHT and WKTV also will be there as well.