Note from Storm: This 2009 article describes a $10 million effort to clean up and ecologically restore the shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan, in order to help revitalize the community.
REVITALIZATION readers in the Muskegon area are invited to let the rest of us know how well this project was executed in the Comments section at the bottom of the page. Is the ecology significantly healthier? Did the work contribute to greater local economic health?
From the article: One of the largest federal “stimulus” grants for the Muskegon area is being targeted at its greatest asset — the waterfront.
Design and engineering is well under way and construction could begin by the end of the year on a $10 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant to restore the shoreline habitat along the southern Muskegon Lake shoreline.
“With the $10 million, we will see an investment in Muskegon County’s strongest economic development asset … the lake,” said Sandeep Dey, executive director of the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission. “This project is progressing much faster than we had anticipated.”
The work to be completed by the end of 2010 will remove the industrial and lumber era debris along the Muskegon Lake shoreline at 10 specific sites. It will be replaced with clean fill, restoring wetlands and “softening” the shoreline to create a more natural environment for aquatic plants and wildlife.
And not only will the environment be the beneficiary. The project is designed also to be an economic catalyst for shoreline development and provide further recreational opportunities.