Excerpt from the (<2006) Delta Township Parks, Recreation and Cemeteries Open Space Plan.

Delta Charter Township is chartered under Act 359 of the Public Acts of 1947, as amended. The Board of Trustees is elected by the voters and charged with the responsibility for managing and supervising the functions and duties of the Township. Because of an increasing demand for recreational opportunities, and the availability of State money through the Recreational Bond Act of 1968, a seven member Parks and Recreation Commission was established in 1971 by authority given in Act 156 of the Public Acts of 1917, as amended. The Commission immediately researched the availability of lands to develop as park sites and made application for Recreation Bonds Funds. At this time the Commission found their task was too large for a "volunteer" group such as the Commission to handle. They therefore made a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, received approval and hired a Parks and Recreation Director in January of 1972 to handle these and other responsibilities.

In 1974 the Parks and Recreation Commission researched the various possibilities of a joint recreation system with Lansing Township, Waverly School Board and the Grand Ledge School Board. The end result was the creation of the Community Recreation Board. This Board was also created under Act 156 of 1917, as amended, with Delta Township, Lansing Township, and the Waverly School District as the cooperating agencies. The six member Community Recreation Board was charged with the task of development of year round programs in the areas of recreation, avocation and community education, handling of the finances of the programs and hiring of staff to administer the programs.

Although the Community Recreation Board did a fine job in offering quality, year around programs, the Commission and Board of Trustees felt that the Western portion of Delta Township (Grand Ledge School District portion) was not being adequately served by the Community Recreation Board. Therefore, in late 1980, Delta Township decided that it would withdraw from the Community Recreation Board and establish its own Recreation Program of what was then called Waverly Community Education & Recreation.

During its first fifteen years the park system of Delta Township experienced swift growth. By utilizing combinations of State and Federal grants, donations from the private sector, leasing of land, and local funds, the Township now has nine parks with a total of 655 acres under its jurisdiction. The park lands range from a 1.1 acre tot lot to a 151.3 acre major community park. From the beginning, the emphasis has been on refining its developed park land and continued expansion of its recreation program.

The Recreation Program has been able to obtain the use of indoor space at the building that houses the Township's branch library (Delta Enrichment Center) and a renovated church building (Delta Township Community Center). This has allowed for expansion of the activities offered by the Department. However, we are still lacking in available space for indoor use. Proposed ways to correct this shortage are pursued in the Open Space Plan document.