Township looking at future of unused house in park

The Laketown Township Board of Trustees is looking at the future of an unoccupied house at Wolters Woods Park, instructing the interim manager to seek proposals for a property management company and figure out costs and possible income from the home at 6289 147^th Ave.

“We can’t continue doing what we’re doing,” Supervisor Steven Ringelberg, who is also interim manager, said at the Wednesday, May 14, 2025, board meeting. “We can’t just leave it vacant.”

Wolters House history

The township purchased the three-bedroom, three-bath 2,260-square-foot house and 2.5 acres of land from the estate of the Rev. Lloyd Wolters in 2022 for $350,000 to preserve the integrity of Wolters Woods Park, which surrounds the property on three sides.

The park is named after the Wolters family who were instrumental in establishing the park in 1992.

The township used an installment loan to buy the land and pays $2,251.09 a month on that loan. The remaining balance as of April 20 was $246,785.14.

From September 2023 to August 2024, Holland Christian Schools leased the property for $1,600 a month. Since the lease expired, the house has been unused.

Options

Ringelberg suggested options for the house and land:

• Put it back on the rental market.
• Use it for township purposes such as a community center or headquarters for the township parks commission or building and grounds department.
• Sell the property, either as it is, with an adjoining parcel immediately to the west, or sell it as a smaller lot, keeping as much property as possible for the park. The township could sell the land with restrictive covenants to protect the park.

The board unanimously instructed the interim manager to get at least three proposals from property management companies regarding use of the house as a rental unit and costs and income estimates.

The Wolters family

Whatever the choice, the township needs to remember that the Wolters family chose the township’s lower offer to purchase the Wolters home even though other bidders made higher offers at the time.

“We have to be very conscious that the Wolters family was generous to us,” Ringelberg said.

Lloyd Wolters passed away in October 2022.

The property that eventually became the park was originally owned by Lloyd Wolters’ grandfather, Benjamin Wolters, who acquired it in 1872.

When Lloyd’s father, Edward, passed away in 1986, the property was maintained by five children. Developers were pressing to purchase the acreage, and Lloyd Wolters was unclear which direction to go. After consulting with a friend, Wolters came to the conclusion that people needed a place to walk through the woods and appreciate nature.