MUSKEGON, Mich. — There's a new addition along Shoreline Drive in Muskegon.
Drivers may have noticed a large ring-shaped sculpture being installed this week.
"A symbol of unity, the rebuilding of Muskegon and all the people it takes to do those kind of things," said the artist behind the sculpture, Lee Brown.
Sticking with the theme of rebuilding Muskegon, the Muskegon City Public Initiatives Project Director Judy Hayner said they worked entirely with Muskegon vendors on the building of "The Portal."
"Every aspect of this project has been Muskegon conceived, Muskegon designed and Muskegon built," she said.
Muskegon is a city that knows a thing or two about rebuilding.
Initially, the city was built around the lumber industry. Then, in 1975, much of the downtown area was torn up to make space for a mall.
In 2001 when the mall failed, it left an eight-block area of Downtown Muskegon completely closed off.
When 2002 came around, plans to reimagine the site of the mall began.
The city has continued to build up its downtown area ever since and "The Portal" represents all of that history.
"We are really standing on a very industrialized area of Muskegon," said Hayner at the site of the new sculpture. "Back in the day, this was the site of Lakey foundry, Continental Motors, before that, lumbering. And there is a connection, or part of the inspiration for this is our industrial past. Muskegon has a pretty significant and unique industrial path that started with lumbering."
The site of the sculpture also sits between what used to be the headquarters for SPX, which was a piston ring company that started in 1911.
"SPX is part of our, part of what we're connected to," said Hayner.
The art piece is also meant to look like one of those piston rings that SPX would make. The one in Muskegon is number nine of 10 total sculptures that SPX has helped to fund for communities.
The SPX board's chairman, Patrick O'Leary, called Hayner with the idea for the sculpture in 2018.
"He called me about this idea, and he said, 'What would this look like? How could we do something like this?'" said Hayner. "So that's what started it. And then the job was to figure out sites and artists and stories and, you know, trying to link our art to some of the history of Muskegon and that was a very deliberate part of our goal."
And while the sculpture represents a lot of Muskegon's history, Brown and Hayner hope that it will bring joy to the community in the future.
"It's quality of life," said Brown of why public art is so important. "It's human interaction, and art's involved almost in every feature. From designs of buildings to city planning, to just fine art and personal expression. But it's everywhere, and it makes a place, I think, a better place to live."
While drivers on Shoreline Drive have begun to notice "The Portal," it won't be finished for a couple of weeks.
The 25-26,000 pound sculpture will have a lit path underneath it for the community to come and walk through, taking in the newest of Muskegon's 60 or so art installations.