HOLLAND, Mich. — The city of Holland has been awarded an $11.25 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration for the Holland Intermodal Port Improvements project, part of the Waterfront Holland initiative to connect downtown to Lake Macatawa through new development.
Watch: Former Holland Power Plant site restoration effort gets federal grant
The site at 64 Pine Avenue, formerly home to the James DeYoung power plant, will be upgraded to facilitate a land swap with Verplank Dock Co., currently located at 233 W. 8th Street. Moving Verplank’s operations to the Pine Avenue site would open the company’s current property for waterfront development.
“From the Heinz boardwalk all the way to Window on the Waterfront, there's currently a gap where the public isn't really able to access the waterfront,” Mayor Nathan Bocks said. “What we're going to be doing by moving Verplank over to the JDY site is opening up a site that will provide waterfront access.”
The improvements, funded through the Port Infrastructure Development Program grant, will include reconstruction of the seawall, onsite construction to accommodate industrial operations, and public road and infrastructure upgrades.
“There is a seawall there now that's upwards of 90 years old that needs to be improved. Things need to be shored up. There needs to be work done on the shipping channel that's in there,” Bocks said. “What that is going to do is give us the opportunity to improve the JDY site, which will then allow the Verplank Dock Company to move to that site — that's phase one of the project.”
The city will work in the coming months to evaluate and meet the various requirements connected to the grant. City Council would later vote on a formal grant agreement.
Bocks said future phases of development planned for the end of 8th Street would include a marina, hotel, condominiums, restaurants, retail space, and potentially cruise ship docking. Completion of improvements at the James DeYoung site is anticipated in 2027 and 2028.
Thomas Jordan, a Holland neighbor who frequently visits Kollen Park with his wife, Pamelia, said the changes could enhance the area.
“We do come pretty often to watch the boats and stuff dock and watch them have fun out there, but we have fun watching,” he said. "It would actually help both sides — the scenery, as far as getting more people out here, more tourism, and then you would have more things to do.”
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