GRAND HAVEN, - Mich. – After 18 months, half the money to save the iconic catwalk along the Grand Haven pier has been raised thanks to more than 500 individual contributions and fundraisers.
Pat McGinnis, Grand Haven’s City Manager, made the big announcement Tuesday at Central Park after an overwhelming push in their donations helped them break the halfway point.
$545,000 dollars has been raised since the U.S. Coast Guard announced their plans to restore the city’s pier. McGinnis said the catwalk was projected to come down, which is why they started raising money to restore and re-install it after the pier work is done.
“We can’t let that catwalk go away, it’s part of Grand Haven and who we are,” McGinnis said. “And we’ve had a great deal of success of building on people’s enthusiasm.”
The city is entering a contract with the King Co. to purchase the $250,000 worth of steel in the structure, and $60,000 to fix the first set of bents. McGinnis said phases 1-4 include restoring and replacing the steel, while stage 5 will be the actual installation of the catwalk, forecasting the project to start this summer.
“We still have $450,000 more to go but we’re awfully inspired today,” said McGinnis.
The King Co. is a local marine contractor now spearheading the million dollar project after donating $50,000 to the cause themselves. They’re also helping restore the actual pier with another multi-million dollar project.
McGinnis stressed the project is not being paid for by tax payer money, saying the project is strictly donation based. Anyone interested in helping the city reach their goal, contributions can be collected on the city’s website or dropped off in person at 1 South Harbor Dr., Grand Haven.
