program

Our studio would like to thank Great Lakes Environmental Research Labs for such complete openness to this open-ended project. Mike Quigley hosted us, informed us in many different ways, took part in our reviews, and generally made all of this possible. Dennis Donahue kindly donated the use of the field station for a weekend on the breakwater in Muskegon, and explained a bit of life (and instrumentation) on the lakes. Ellen Brody, through her work on the newly opened visitor center at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary convinced us that projects such as this sometimes turn real. At the Annis Water Resources Institute, Alan Steinman showed us a splendid facility, and gave us insights into public education not only about the lakes, but also about urban design for historic waterfronts such as Muskegon. At the Unviersity of Michigan, David Lossing welcomed our inquiries, connected us with additional resources in the state, and reminded us about our the importance of outreach.

Thanks to all...

We chose Traverse City for this project because among Michigan cities it best represents relationships between tourist economy, ex-urban second home development, traditional food growers’ businesses, and issues in civic waterfront redevelopment. This is the “cherry capital of America” but also the effective capital of Michigan’s second-home boom and lakeside tourism. The waterfront has been opened by the recent removal of a power plant, and already serves as the site for the city’s farmers’ market. Although this is a carefully planned downtown site, it is nevertheless also exurban because of the whole town’s relationship to the region and the state. Like our abstract roadside satellite, this too a drive-by site. Grandview Parkway can get over 30,000 vehicles a day. Waterfront access across this road was the main focus of the recent study by thesis students in TCAUP and SNRE. The downtown plan has active provisions for local business, civic amenities, pedestrian pathways, open space management, and creating waterfront views. The drive-by public favors the latter. Actual residents favor the farmers’ market in its current parking lot location, but also have interest in related waterfront amenities, such as the marina, a “children’s garden” variant on the former zoo, and Front St. businesses. The prospect for all of these interlocking into a civic space of exceptional quality is very real.

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Riverbank(s)
The existing and much-loved site for the farmers’ market is along the riverbank in the parking lot. The riverbank backs of Front. St. businesses await better treatment; and the pedestrian bridges between these banks are very appealing. Unfortunately these areas are very small. Even without the addition of any persistent elements, the farmers’ market is big for this at least in its large Saturday versions. But people like the tightly-packed feel of that.

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Corner
The most prominent and therefore contested site here is also a parking lot, a small one at 80 spaces, but one that belongs to city offices and not its parks department. This is at the corner of Union St and Grandview Parkway. Its location across from the visitors’ center and the marina make it a natural link to Front St., if only there were agreement about whether to build here. Or what: the prospect of a hotel-restaurant has also been explored.

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Waterfront
The most obvious site here is a waterfront parcel of approximately 5 acres, with an existing parkway underpass, and an former art deco museum and zoo (both institutions have relocated). This site invites particular consideration to landscape architecture.

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Brownfield
One catalyst for so much waterfront redesign has been the removal of a power station between Grandview and the water, between Union and Hall. The site has been converted to green space. But now the light industrial sites across the road are prime waterfront real estate. Together with the alley behind and on to the river, this is as much as 30 acres. Nobody has been able to aggregate this successfully so far, thankfully not even a themepark developer who came through. While the owners await the big cash-in, the city would like to see they try some interim adaptations to what exists.