PARK TWP, Mich. — A former U.S. Coast Guard station along Lake Macatawa now serves as the headquarters for the Park Township Fire Department’s Marine Division, part of a growing effort to boost water safety on the lakeshore through both rescues and education.
WATCH: Park Township turns former Coast Guard station into water rescue hub
Fire Chief Scott Gamby, who has spent 40 years with the department — 21 of them as chief — said owning the building was never part of the plan.
“This was never on our bucket list, not at all. Wasn't even in the playbook at all,” Gamby said. “We never thought we were going to have full-time firefighters, either.”
The process to purchase the station took nearly four years.
“We went through a lot of negotiations back and forth,” Gamby said. “We went through, unfortunately, two government shutdowns which put a hold on a lot of things. We just had to sit and wait. Then our Nancy DeBoer and Roger Victory, our representatives came and were very supportive, and they opened some doors for us too.”
When the Coast Guard left, Gamby said it created a rescue gap along Lake Macatawa and nearby Lake Michigan.
“We have about 2.5 million people go through the gate, you know, being out at Lake Michigan, living by Lake Mac, and that attracts a lot of people,” he said.
Since the Coast Guard’s departure, the fire department has received about 20 water-related calls per year.
"Our full-time people will be staffed during the day. Now that we have living quarters, we have the availability to take some people and move them to a 24-hour shift, so we’d have coverage all around,” Gamby said. “If a water rescue comes in, they can go right down to the dock and get on there. You know, our goal is to get a [fire] boat.”
Park Township Manager Matthew Butts said the location has benefits that go beyond the township.
“It serves as a platform for multi-jurisdictions cooperation to provide marine safety in both Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan,” Butts said.
The building will be used not only by Park Township but also by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division and, occasionally, the Coast Guard.
The move was formally celebrated with cake and a ribbon cutting, attended by state and local officials.
“This is an investment in our economy, but not all just the economy — it's in the well-being of our residents of Michigan, our Michiganders,” said Sen. Roger Victory. “This asset right here, this investment on behalf of the state and your community, will offer a safer environment, more secure environment.”
State Rep. Nancy DeBoer called the new facility’s impact “priceless.”
“There's no way for me to quantify the gratitude of every family whose little kid is going to get in trouble and somebody from here is going to save — and otherwise it would not happen,” DeBoer said. “I have my utmost respect and admiration and appreciation. It just feels so good to have gone full circle with a problem to a solution.”
Gamby said minor upgrades are still planned.
“Painting and floor coverings and repairing things. ... We need a new, different communications [system],” he said. “The building's in very good shape, and we want to just make some modifications to continue that.”
WATCH PRIOR COVERAGE: Park Township buys former Coast Guard station to bolster water safety
At the end of the day, Gamby said, it’s about making a difference in moments when lives are in danger.
“We got to try to make a difference,” he said. “It's just really too hard to stand on the shoreline with the parents and looking for their loved one and not being able to address that need and help that need.”
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