GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Hall's Sport Center has been open for over forty years and has enjoyed steady business since it's beginning, with shops expanding from Muskegon to Grand Rapids and Grand Haven.
However, business on the lakeshore took a turn when water flooded onto the property in Grand Haven last year. As water surrounded the building and damaged its nearby shed, owner Harold Hall was forced to close the store for the last two summers.
"Our place is really easy to locate but with the road closed... it's almost impossible to find us because you have to go past it and then go to the other side of the street only to find another barricade, so you can’t get to it and that’s been our problem" Hall said.
The store sits on Harbor Island Drive and Hall is working alongside Grand Haven Department of Public Works to raise the area by three and a half feet.
"The city is spending over a quarter of a million dollars to raise the intersection,” Public Works Director, Derek Gajdos, said.
The project, which will cover the intersection of Harbor Island Drive and U.S. 31, comes after the city spent around $100,000 trying to mitigate the water and damage in 2019.
"We’re excited to get this intersection open and not expend the resources to try to keep it dry it will be built to stay dry," Gajdos said, adding that his team is asking legislators for funding assistance.
While Hall will have to pay "millions" out of his own pocket to get his property lifted, he says the timeline aligned nicely with the work the city is doing, stating that if one or the other didn't raise their land, the flooding issue couldn't fully be solved. Hall has been appreciative of all the help the city has given.
"We really had no choice. This place would become a swamp if we didn’t raise it," he said.
Hall is raising his shop about three feet. His lowest area of property will be raised around four feet to match the city's road construction.
The Department of Public Work expects construction to finish by the end of October. Hall said he hopes to have an unveiling of his property, which includes new docks and remodeling, ready by late April.
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