A $3 million donation from a private donor puts the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center ever closer to its $26 million goal for the new facility. Discovery Center officials said that the $3 million donor wished to remain anonymous, but they expect to release additional details at a later date.
The center had already received $15 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in Michigan’s fiscal year 2024 budget and $1.6 million in federal funds from a 2021 government spending package.
The center will be located on the existing Discovery Center & Pier property on South West Bay Shore Drive in Elmwood Township. The current facility will be demolished and replaced with a 35,000-square-foot building with research, lab, and business incubation space. According to a June press release, the project hopes to “establish Michigan’s role as a leader in the freshwater blue economy.”
Discovery Center and Pier CEO Matt McDonough attended the Feb. 12 Elmwood Township Board meeting to give an update on the Freshwater Center project, and progress towards the completion of the Discovery Center Pier, which will be located across the street from the finished center.
“I just wanted to give everybody an update as to how far we’ve come, in no small part because of the township board support and being the fiduciary on a couple grants,” McDonough said.
The Freshwater Center project is a collaborative effort between the Discovery Center and Pier, Michigan Technological University, Northwest Michigan College, Traverse Connect, and 20 Fathoms. Central Michigan University and Grand Valley State University research vessels will also be present at the center once it’s completed, McDonough said.
McDonough told the Elmwood Township Board that the Discovery Center received $50,000 from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in January to kickstart the environmental assessments of the site.
McDonough said the project will “very likely” qualify for a Brownfield Redevelopment Grant for up to $1 million, and he expects to ask the township to sign on as fiduciary for a Brownfield grant soon. He said that there is some contamination on site, and the EGLE grant will aid with site demolition; lead, mold, and asbestos abatement; and mitigation measures as part of construction.
The demolition of the old facility will require several nonprofits on the Discovery Center and Pier property to move, including the Great Lakes Children’s Museum. However, McDonough clarified that the port would remain open for the Inland Seas Education Association and the Maritime Heritage Alliance during construction.
However, McDonough said that construction of a new pavilion at the Discovery Center Pier is behind schedule but is now slated for an end-of-March completion. After the pavilion is done, they hope to improve several features located along M-22, including a parking lot, restroom building, and a kayak launch.
McDonough said that the Discovery Center hopes to present a site plan for these improvements, to be reviewed by the township planning commission, in the next two months. He said that this next phase of the project will likely go out to bid in the spring, but because the pier is busiest in the summer, construction will likely not begin until October 2024.
He added that the construction schedule for the Freshwater Center and Discovery Center Pier are being driven by the ARPA fund spending deadline, which is Dec. 31, 2026. He said they will break ground on the Freshwater Center in late 2025 and hopes to have the center completed by mid-2027.
