MUSKEGON, Mich. — Plans to revitalize and reconnect to the lakeshore may soon take yet another step forward in the City of Muskegon.
Following a two-year pandemic-related pause, a proposal to upgrade and overhaul the heavily-used Grand Trunk Launch Site at McCracken and Lakeshore has been revived.
"It's kind of an underutilized site," said Leo Evans, the city's public works director. "It's a real diamond in the rough for Muskegon."
A facelift in the works, however, promises to give that diamond a polish if approved.
The most recent proposal to further overhaul the former industrial site received its first public hearing before city commissioners last week.
Plans call for paving the current gravel parking area to make more room for vehicles, improve the existing storm water management system, expand the sites previously-installed docks and install a third launch to boost capacity.
On the other end of the site, a handicap-accessible kayak launch and integrated trail system would open up new opportunities for recreation.
"We had actually pursued a grant on this site two years ago, just as COVID was starting, and we decided to kind of pull back and not go forward with it," Evans explained. "We had done a lot of community engagement through Facebook and the neighborhood associations and collected a lot of comments that were incorporated into that plan as well."
Picking up where they left off, the city filed a new application with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to secure a $500,000 grant, roughly half of the project's estimated total cost of $1 million, Evans said.
The city said the application would take approximately a year to process.
The proposal would then be subject to final approval by commissioners and additional opportunities for public input.
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