"As long as I've been a business owner, which has surpassed 30 years, I've heard people talk about the desire for a true community gathering space." That's how Jill Durnen, co-owner of Hartman Insurance, put it to Saline City Council on September 14, according to MLive. Durnen also helps organize Salty Summer Sounds, the free downtown concert series. She told council the hard part is finding a concert spot that is "safe, comfortable and inviting, while keeping downtown accessible. We don't want to close a parking to have these concerts."

That night's meeting is the reason Saline's winter will look the way it always has. The square planned behind Murphy's Crossing is now smaller, and it's on a schedule that runs into 2028. Until it's built, downtown Saline keeps holding its public life in places designed for something else.

What Changed in September

The plan comes from Praxis Properties, led by president Tyler Kinley. Praxis owns Murphy's Crossing, the retail complex at the southeast corner of Ann Arbor Street and Michigan Avenue, home to local shops, eateries and a salon. The gathering space would go behind the building, west of the parking lot off East Henry Street. The broader project also includes four two-story apartments and a renovated lower level for a cocktail bar.

In June, a lawsuit was filed against the city over an adjacent city-owned parcel. The dispute goes back to a 1990s settlement clause that ties ownership of that land to whether it was used for public parking. Kinley responded by taking that parcel out of the design completely. As a result, the planned brick pavers, planters and ADA-accessible ramp on the city lot are gone, and the stormwater drainage moves elsewhere. The smaller square still has a covered stage for live concerts, green space, seating and play features.

The timeline moved the most:

1. February 2026. Council voted 4-1 for a resolution supporting the square, and the city confirmed a $500,000 contribution, The Saline Post reported.
2. March 2026. The project won a $1.5 million state Revitalization and Placemaking grant through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, announced by the governor's office.
3. September 2026. Kinley had hoped to break ground that month. He told council the lawsuit pushed construction to 2027 or 2028.
4. April 2027 and April 2028. These are the groundbreaking and completion dates the developer is now considering, Saline Summit reported.

The city's share was cut in half as well, from $500,000 to $250,000. Under the revised proposal, $50,000 would go to stormwater work in Salt Brewery Alley and $200,000 to the canopy over the stage. Praxis would lease the space to the city for $1 per 10-year period for up to 50 years, and the city would control programming. Nothing was final that night. Saline Summit noted that the funding agreement, the lease and any property tax abatement all need future council approval. Praxis also has to take the modified plans back to the MEDC.

Why the Parking Lot Already Won Once

Before the Murphy's Crossing plan, the city considered putting a public gathering place in the West Henry Street parking lot. That lot already hosts the farmers market, the summer concert series and festival events. The idea lost support because it would have used customer parking, which downtown business owners didn't back, according to The Saline Post.

So the lot stayed a lot, and it still does part-time event duty. Saline Main Street held Salty Summer Sounds there on Thursdays from June 25 through August 27 this year. Oktoberfest followed on September 18, also listed in the West Henry Street lot. The city lists the farmers market at the same block, 100 S. Ann Arbor St., Parking Lot #4, every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

This is the tension Durnen described. Every gathering in that lot takes away the parking that brings shoppers downtown. Building the square on Praxis land behind Murphy's Crossing was supposed to fix that. With completion now targeted for April 2028, the lot has at least one more full season of concerts and markets ahead.

November Splits the Market From Downtown

Cold weather moves the busiest weekly event out of downtown altogether. On the city's market page, the outdoor season at Lot #4 closes in early November. The market then moves indoors to Liberty School at 7265 N. Ann Arbor St., open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. from mid-November through April. The winter market has run since 2017. It carries produce, meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, baked goods, holiday gifts and crafts. It's the same four-hour session shifted an hour later, held north of downtown on the same road.

For the next five months, Saturday morning shopping and downtown Saline happen in different places. Downtown's own November events move to weeknights and into individual storefronts:

• Holiday Market, Thursday, November 12, 4 to 8 p.m. Saline Main Street bills it as an evening of pre-holiday shopping downtown. It includes a letter-writing workshop where kids can write to Santa.
• Ajde Aman, Friday, November 13, 7 p.m. A Balkan music-and-dance night at The 109 Cultural Exchange, 109 W. Michigan Ave., on the Saline Main Street calendar.
• Community events off Main Street. The city's November calendar also lists the Great Pumpkin Roll on November 7 and a Family Puzzle Tournament on November 14.

The Holiday Market runs through the shops already on Michigan Avenue and Ann Arbor Street. Ajde Aman fits in a single room at The 109. Downtown Saline is good at this kind of event because these are the ones its buildings can hold.

December 5 Uses the Intersection Instead

One day a year, downtown gets its square by closing the streets. On Saturday, December 5, two organizations stage back-to-back events that lead to the same corner.

The Cocoa Crawl sends people from shop to shop for cocoa and treats. Each stop stamps a passport that enters you for a grand-prize basket, and SBK Orthodontics is this year's signature sponsor. Saline Main Street organizes the crawl, and the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce runs the parade and tree lighting.

The Chamber puts the tree lighting at 5 p.m. at Michigan Avenue and N. Ann Arbor Street. The Saline High School Choir and Dance Alliance will perform, and Mayor Brian Marl will emcee. The Saline Post reported the parade theme as "Celebrating America's 250th Birthday: Red, White and Holiday Bright!" with the parade also scheduled for 5 p.m.

That intersection is where Michigan Avenue meets Ann Arbor Street, the same corner Murphy's Crossing sits on. The crowd at the tree lighting will be standing within a block of the planned square, on pavement that will be traffic again the next morning.

What the Revised Square Would Change

The revised design matters mostly for summer. The stage canopy the city would fund is meant for concerts and community events, which today take over the West Henry lot. The state and developer materials describe about 10,000 square feet of outdoor public space as part of the larger Murphy's Crossing redevelopment. That redevelopment is expected to bring about $7.5 million in total investment. At the September meeting, Kinley called the project something that "has been a dream of downtown for a long time."

Before that happens, the city and Praxis still have to settle maintenance, event scheduling, insurance and long-term operating costs. Then the lease and funding agreement go back to council for a vote. Those votes will decide whether Salty Summer Sounds still needs Lot #4 in summer 2028. Through this winter, the market is at Liberty School, the Holiday Market is in the storefronts, and the tree goes up at Michigan and Ann Arbor at 5 p.m. on December 5.

If you own near downtown Saline and wonder how a new public square, a stage canopy or four new apartments behind Murphy's Crossing might affect your street over the next few years, The Faeth Team follows these projects as they go through council. We're happy to talk through what they could mean for your home. Get your free home valuation and we'll include the latest on what's planned downtown.