Most Michigan villages are losing residents. Vicksburg is doing the opposite.

The village of Vicksburg, 14 miles southeast of downtown Kalamazoo, has grown 37 percent since 2010. That makes it the fourth-fastest-growing village in the state, according to a recent report from MLive. The population is now nearly 4,000 residents. That is twice as many people as nearby Parchment or Galesburg, both of which are cities, not villages.

"We're the largest village in the state without an MDOT road going through it," said Jim Mallery, Vicksburg village manager.

Mallery arrived in 2016 and found 11 vacant storefronts in downtown Vicksburg. Today, the business district is fully occupied.

A downtown that draws visitors from outside the village

The weekly 'Burg Days of Summer event has become a regional draw. The free event runs every Wednesday night from June through August in downtown Vicksburg. It features live bands, food trucks, and activities for children.

Last summer, the village tracked cellphone ZIP codes during 'Burg Days events. By August, the weekly gatherings drew about 4,000 people. According to Mallery, 70 percent of the phones tracked were from ZIP codes outside of Vicksburg.

"We're here for the music, here for the food, here for the bouncy house," said Diane Fayak, who attended the June 10 event with her daughter and grandchildren from Portage.

Her daughter, Shelby Matthews, added that Vicksburg offers "more than Portage has to offer" in terms of a fun downtown vibe.

Newcomers see a village on the rise

Hunter Finnila, 30, and his wife Lauren, 28, moved to Vicksburg after marrying in 2020. Hunter, a civil engineer from Battle Creek, became familiar with the area during a job assignment. Lauren, a metro Detroit native, worked for a real estate title company in Kalamazoo and noticed the uptick in Vicksburg home sales.

Lauren "saw this area was a good place to move to," Hunter said.

The couple bought a home in a new plat developed by Allen Edwin Homes. In the five years they have lived in Vicksburg, they say the community has only improved.

"The downtown has changed drastically," Lauren Finnila said, citing the influx of new businesses, downtown events, and physical improvements to the area.

The couple are regular customers at Jasper's, a downtown pizza and sandwich shop, and at Gilbert and Ivy, a bookstore that opened four years ago. Lauren recently joined a Vicksburg walking club sponsored by downtown businesses.

The mill project that could change everything

The former Lee Paper Company mill sits on a 120-acre campus just southeast of downtown. The 400,000-square-foot building was the village's largest employer and taxpayer for decades, with 250 workers at its peak. It closed in 2001.

Kalamazoo County acquired the property through tax foreclosure in 2013. Chris Moore, a Vicksburg native who made his fortune in the Seattle tech industry, announced plans to buy the mill in 2014. The purchase went through in 2018 after Moore secured $30 million in tax credits.

Moore outlined a vision for an $80 million mixed-use development featuring a brewery, museum, hotel, retail spaces, event venues, and residential apartments.

Eight years later, the mill is still empty. But Moore, who lives in Nevada, has spent more than $40 million so far on restoring the structure. That includes new roofs, window and brick repairs, and environmental remediation, according to Steve Sielatycki, vice president for The Mill Group.

Moore also owns seven historic downtown buildings that he has restored, plus 35 homes near the mill. He has spent about $10 million on renovating his downtown holdings, Sielatycki said. Most of the homes are rented out. Moore has told village leaders he intends to use them as worker housing as the mill project develops.

The village is not waiting

Mallery said Moore's vision could potentially transform Vicksburg. But the timetable remains uncertain. The village is moving forward regardless.

"We don't have to be this small village waiting for things to come," Mallery said. "We can be proactive."

Mallery's revitalization efforts include:

  • Widening downtown sidewalks from eight feet to 15 feet during a water and sewer line replacement project
  • Installing permanent outdoor tables and benches throughout downtown
  • Creating a "social district" that allows people to have alcoholic drinks outside of bars and restaurants
  • Revitalizing Oswalt Park, a 14-acre downtown park that now includes picnic tables, playground equipment, and a fire pit
  • Offering to pay for paint for downtown businesses to repaint their storefronts

"It took about six years, but almost every building is participating in that paint program, so the downtown has a fresh, new look," Mallery said.

The result is a village that stands out in a state where more than half of all villages have lost population since 2010. Vicksburg is proving that growth is possible even in a community far from a major highway or metro area.