MUSKEGON, MI – Universal access to Muskegon Lake for all area residents will take a giant step forward with a Great Lakes Fishery Trust grant.

The state award of $253,000 to the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission will allow for the construction of fully-accessible fishing piers at the city of Muskegon’s Hartshorn Marina.

Plans for the Hartshorn Peninsula Pier includes a walkway, three fishing piers and a picnic pavilion.

The universally accessible shoreline fishing facility will be constructed on the peninsula that creates Hartshorn’s small boat basin on the northwest portion of the marina. The area already is used for shoreline fishing and has some of the most stunning sunset views on Muskegon Lake.

Work on the fishing pier will begin this construction season and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“It is great to bring a universal access facility of this type to the urban area,” said Erin Kuhn, WMSRDC interim executive director. “Right now, the only other recreational facility of its kind on Muskegon Lake is at the channel. This increases access but still protects the habitat restoration work that was done.”

The community was awarded $10 million in shoreline and habitat restoration funds in 2009 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That part of Hartshorn Marina and private property immediately to the west has received extensive shoreline rehabilitation.

The new fishing pier will be along the city’s Lakeshore Trail, a pedestrian and bike pathway. The city will own and maintain the pier facility.

“We are moving in the direction of universal accessibility with all of our new recreational facilities,” said Cathy Brubaker-Clarke, the city’s community and economic development director. “This will be one more access point we will have to Muskegon Lake for the public. And it is in the central part of the city.”

The fishing pier project is not the only universally-accessible recreational facility being constructed on that portion of the Muskegon Lake shoreline, according to Susan Cloutier-Myers of West Michigan Disability Connection. The nearby Rotary Park at Heritage Landing has universally-accessible playground equipment and kayak launch dock.

"It all rolls into the idea of Complete Streets and universal access design in multi-model transportation facilities," Cloutier-Myers said. "The fishing pier will be great for everyone in our community."



The Peninsula Pier will have parking at the nearby Hartshorn Marina boat launch ramp, which has existing public restrooms. Plans call for a pathway out the peninsula with three 60-foot-by-10-foot fishing platforms along the way. A picnic pavilion will be built at the end of the peninsula, city officials have said.

Just to the west of the planned Peninsula Pier is another access point called Foundry Park, which is private property where the public has been allowed by the prior owners of the Michigan Steel Inc. property. That property is no longer used for a manufacturing operation and is up for sale.

The state’s Great Lake Fisheries Trust is a private, non-profit with an association with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. It was established in 1996 as part of a court settlement among the state, conservation groups and Consumers Energy over the operations of the public utility’s Ludington Pumped Storage Plant on the shores of Lake Michigan. Over the years, the plant had destroyed Lake Michigan fish as water from the lake was pumped up to a reservoir that was drained during times of peak power.

The trust fund has supported dozens of waterfront projects throughout Michigan, providing more than $50 million in grants. Muskegon-area grants over the past decade and a half have included fishing access in Montague’s Medbery Park on White Lake, a Mona Lake fish cleaning facility in Muskegon Heights and a fishing pier as part of the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve in North Muskegon.

Dave Alexander covers business and local government for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email him at dalexan1@mlive.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.