Two volunteers clean up a garden bed in Mott Park, one holding open a paper yard-waste bag while the other rakes leaves with a wooden-handled rake near a fenced tennis court.

Nature trails. Disc Golf. Basketball courts. Tennis courts. And a clubhouse with windows that seem designed to make you stop and take it all in.

The transformation of Mott Park has been years in the making, driven by the work of passionate volunteers with the Mott Park Neighborhood Association and the Mott Park Recreation Association (MPRA).

“Mott Park is a really special, unique blend of people that band together and take care of each other and our shared space,” said Mott Park Neighborhood Association vice president Chad Schlosser. “People pitching in, helping out — that’s what makes Mott Park beautiful.”
 

A boy laughs joyfully while climbing over the wooden wall of a gaga ball pit, with another child pulling at his shirt and kids playing in the background.

When Mott Park’s golf course closed in 2010, the Mott Park Recreation Association formed to reimagine the space. Volunteers conducted public visioning sessions, signed a long-term lease with the city, and got to work. With support from CFGF, volunteers built out a disc golf course and, alongside the Flint River Watershed Coalition, raised more than $100,000 for a paddler’s landing along the river.

Since 2006, CFGF has supported both associations’ work through the Neighborhoods Small Grants Program — including a $25,000 transformation grant in 2021 to replace the roof and repair the HVAC at the long-vacant clubhouse, and a $5,000 grant in 2025 that brought resurfaced basketball courts.
 

An empty outdoor basketball court with an orange-and-white hoop, enclosed by a chain-link fence, with bare trees and a fenced-in area visible in the background at Mott Park.

 

Today, Mott Park offers something for nearly everyone. Visitors can hike nature trails along the river, play disc golf, shoot hoops, or hit the tennis and hockey courts. Youth have the bicycle garden, a flat surface painted with streets and city scenes where they can safely learn to ride. And every year, Mott Fest brings the whole community together to celebrate the space they’ve built.


“It’s not just a neighborhood park,” Schlosser said. “It’s a space that’s for everyone, for the whole city, and even beyond.”

A smiling volunteer in a sun hat cleans a window with a squeegee at a Mott Park building, holding a roll of paper towels under his arm.

Situated in the State Park

In 2025, Mott Park was named one of five park units in the upcoming state park development in Flint, creating new recreation opportunities and economic benefits for the city. The plan includes a connector trail to Chevy Commons, with the DNR and Genesee County Parks now handling various maintenance duties.

To ensure the park’s long-term future, a $40 million endowment was established with CFGF as part of the state park collaboration.

“The Community Foundation has played a huge role in our grass roots effort to maintain and develop our public spaces,” said MPRA president Tom Saxton. “We are delighted that adding the Rec Area to the State Park footprint worked out!”