GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After more than a decade of planning, the effort to restore the Grand River to a more natural condition through downtown Grand Rapids kicked off on Monday.
City leaders alongside member of Grand Rapids WhiteWater held a groundbreaking ceremony on the Gillett Bridge to mark the start of construction.
The project is set to remove four low-head dams from the river, restore the water's natural flow through the riverbed, reshape the banks throughout downtown to make it more accessible for neighbors. The first phase of construction, estimated at $14.56 million, is expected to take roughly two years to complete.
The effort to restore the Grand River has been in the works since the 2000's, with a number of concepts and designs presented over the years.
In 2024, John Ball Zoo helped recover hundreds of mussels from the river, relocating them out of the construction area.
Grand Rapids
INSIDE LOOK: Grand River restoration underway, relocating freshwater mussels
The project received approximately $11 million in federal funding last March.
During Monday's celebration, members of the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians Water Protectors performed a blessing of the waters ceremony.
Since the ceremony was held on a bridge, organizers marked the start of work not with shovels full of dirt, but by dropping rocks into the river.
