Head south on Cook Street from Dowling, past the fire station and past Hancock Street, and turn into the lot just beyond the two ballfields. From its corner nearest the Hart-Montague Trail, a paved path crosses the trail to the Montague Dog Park. It has two fenced play areas side by side, one for large dogs and one for small, plus benches and a waste bag station. Paving the gravel lot next to the fields is the first item in the city's Phase 1 plan, and as of September 30, 2026, none of that phase's grant money had been spent.
That layout tells you how Cullen Field is being built. In 2025 the city listed the dog park as one of the later phases of a long-term plan. It opened first anyway. The first phase, paved parking and pickleball, has had state money approved since August, but the work hasn't started. The order of what shows up at Cullen Field depends more on when each piece gets paid for than on how the city numbered the phases.
What's there now, and where it came from
The city calls the site Cullen Memorial Fields. The current fields opened in May 2004 and replaced the old ballfields on Wilcox Street. The city's Cullen Fields page lists a concession stand, restrooms, a gravel parking lot and a barrier-free paved path to the concession area. Anyone can use the fields for informal sandlot play unless a game or practice is scheduled.
For about twenty years, that was all there was. The changes started in March 2025.
A plan with up to five phases
On March 17, 2025, the White Lake Mirror reported that the Montague City Council had voted 6-0 to apply for a $400,000 Michigan DNR Trust Fund grant. The money would pay for the first phase at Cullen Fields. That phase covered paving the gravel lot, adding ADA-compliant parking spaces, a storm drain to keep runoff from leaving the park, a set of pickleball courts, and parking next to them. The city put up $100,000 as its cash match.
At the same meeting, City Manager Jeff Auch described what could come after Phase 1: walking trails, a playground structure, shade canopies by the fields, and a dog park. He said the project could be split into as many as five phases to manage cost. Council member Laura LaGuire said she appreciated the phased approach because residents could start seeing results before the whole project was paid for.
That approach delivered results quickly, just not in the order of the phases. By the city's 2026 State of the City report, the dog park was already built in the Cullen Field area, with separate fenced sections for big and small dogs. The city said it "has been well-received by residents and canines." The White Lake Area Chamber & Visitors Bureau lists it at 8225 Cook St.
How the money moved
Here is the Phase 1 grant from application to today, next to everything else happening at the site.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| March 2025 | Council applies for a $400,000 DNR Trust Fund grant for Phase 1, with a $100,000 city match |
| By November 2025 | Dog park is open across the trail from the ballfields |
| March 16, 2026 | Council approves applying for Phase 2. The parks subcommittee recommends rolling Phase 1 funds into the 2026-27 fiscal year |
| June 2026 | 2026-27 budget sets aside $320,000 as the city's Phase 1 match |
| August 20, 2026 | State announces the $400,000 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund award for Cullen Field |
| September 30, 2026 | DNR status report shows the full $400,000 still unspent |
The city's share grew a lot between the application and the budget. When it applied in 2025, Montague committed $100,000. When council passed the 2026-27 budget in June, the White Lake Mirror reported the match line at $320,000. The Phase 1 description in that budget also changed slightly: parking lot improvements, one pickleball court, and a community area that could host food trucks during events at the park. The 2025 application had described a set of pickleball courts.
The governor's office made the award official on August 20, 2026. The state announcement lists $400,000 for Montague to improve ADA accessibility at Cullen Field. The project includes paved parking, a gathering area, and a path connecting to the Hart-Montague Trail.
Six weeks later, the DNR's Trust Fund open project status report for September 30, 2026, listed the "Cullen Field Improvement Project" under grant number TF #25-0166. All $400,000 was still shown as unspent grant balance. No bid date, construction start or completion date has been published.
Phase 2 applied for before Phase 1 broke ground
Montague didn't wait for Phase 1 construction before going after the next round. On March 16, 2026, council gave Auch authority to apply for another DNR grant for Phase 2. It could bring in up to $400,000 toward a project budgeted at $908,500.
According to the White Lake Mirror's coverage of that meeting, Phase 2 is aimed at the ballfield experience itself:
- More shaded seating at the fields
- A drinking fountain that fills water bottles
- Solar-powered lighting
- Minor improvements to the concession stand
- Landscaping
- ADA accessibility for the area
Council member Bob Hires confirmed with Auch that the city could revisit the plan and "trim the fat" without affecting its eligibility for the grant. Council also talked about other ways to cover the rest of the Phase 2 cost. Those included asking for public donations to fund individual items such as a seating table, and applying to local groups like the White Lake Community Fund.
As of mid-October 2026, no decision on the Phase 2 application has been published. CatchMark Community's report on the March meeting said the vote let the city compete for funding, with final design and costs still to come. The amenity list above is a proposal, and items could change before anything is built.
A park that still needs the paperwork
The same March work session raised a basic issue. The White Lake Mirror reported that the parks subcommittee recommended the city start a process to designate Cullen Fields as an official city park. The area works as a park, but it turned out it was never formally designated as one. CatchMark described it as a step that "may change as improvements continue and the space evolves." No published source so far shows that council has finished the designation.
The paperwork lag fits how the site has developed. Ballfields came in 2004. A dog park was open by late 2025, ahead of its place in the phase list. A paved lot, pickleball and a food truck area are funded but not scheduled. Shade, lighting and a water fountain are waiting on a grant decision.
Getting there today
Until Phase 1 work starts, here's how the site works:
- By car: From Dowling Street, take Cook Street south toward the fire station, continue past Hancock Street, and turn right into the parking lot just beyond the two ballfields.
- To the dog park: From the lot, take the paved walking path in the corner closest to the bike trail. The dog park sits on the opposite side of the trail from the fields.
- By bike or on foot: The dog park also has direct paved access from the Hart-Montague Trail.
None of the sources we found post dog park hours, dog park rules, or parking lot capacity. The signs at the site are the best guide. If a game or practice is on the field schedule, the diamonds are in use, and sandlot play has to wait.
If you live near Cook Street or the trail and want to know how planned park work like Cullen Field's next phases could affect your property or a home you're considering, the Zuniga Real Estate Team can walk you through it. Schedule a no-pressure conversation.
