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Parking lots, including the Lake Michigan beach lot, are being repaired.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
HAMLIN TOWNSHIP — A large portion of Ludington State Park has been closed since Sept. 3 as a $3.2 million construction project began. Ludington State Park Manager Jim Gallie. said much of the current construction includes replacing several parking lots, sidewalk and curb work, along with building repairs. Additionally, work is taking place inspecting and trimming trees and fixing trails.
The park is closed north of the Big Sable River.
The beach house is being repaired and repainted. Photo submitted by LSP.
“Hallack Contracting of Hart has been hard at work, taking advantage of the good weather to work on the Lake Michigan parking area, the warming shelter lot, the Hamlin parking lots, and the entrance,” Gallie said. “They started off with the demo work to remove the old, damaged parking surfaces, and are now grading and graveling the lots to prepare them for paving.”
Gallie said the crews have been working long days.
“We feel really good about what has been done so far and how quickly the project is moving forward. In the near future, Kent Companies will be arriving to layout curbs and sidewalks. Triangle Associates is the general contractor on the job, and they’ve been doing a great job of coordinating the project.”
Additionally, the park staff has also been working around the park.
“As for park staff, we’ve been taking advantage of the closure to work on a number of important projects,” Gallie said. “We’ve done a thorough hazard tree inspection and have trimmed and removed a number of trees that were potential risks for falling. One crew has spent a lot of time repairing the Lost Lake stairway, north of the Beechwood Campground. As with the Skyline Trail, it needed some shoring up to stabilize it and address settling. Another crew has been working on repairing and repainting restroom building doors. Our evening shifts have been focused on replacing worn out fire circles and damaged picnic tables.
“Another large project that has been taking place is the repair and complete repainting of the Lake Michigan beach house. Many of the damaged cedar shakes have been replaced and the building has been scraped and repainted. It looks sharp. This was a huge project that we have been wanting to do for a while and the closure allowed us to have the time and staff to do it.
“We’ve heard a lot of jokes about how, with the park closed, it’s like a vacation for us. Our team has been working as hard as they always do, just on projects instead of working with visitors.”
The projects are being funded by federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) COVID relief funds provided to the state of Michigan. The state is required to commit to a project with the funds by Dec. 31, 2024 and the projects must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.
Beach house projects are underway.
Initially, the project funding was $4.6 million. But, $1.4 million, slated for repairs on the Skyline Trail, was removed.
“The original funding for the Skyline Trail was reallocated to assist with finishing other ARPA projects in the district that were started before our project,” Gallie said. “The ARPA projects where phased, to accommodate facility closures and to be realistic about the capacity of our planning section to manage them. Unfortunately, the funding came when there was a lot of demand for construction services in the state and many of the bids on the projects came in higher than expected. To get those projects completed, funding needed to be reallocated.”
Gallie said the Skyline Trail, however, is in need of repairs.
“Parks and Recreation Division is looking at multiple options for funding the projects that were delayed. Grants, bonds, and supplemental budget requests are some of the options available. We’ll hopefully learn more in the fall or winter months. We’re hopeful that this project will be happening not too far out.
Repairs near Hamlin Lake. LSP photo.
“The original plan for the trail replacement was going to be a multi-phased project. The first phase was going to be the replacement of the boardwalk from the west end, starting at the Skyline Trail parking lot, to the middle stairs. The next phase would be the remainder. The Skyline Trail really needs to be upgraded. It’s nearly 45 years old. We plan on making repairs during the closure to shore up some spongy areas of the boardwalk and to address some of the worn-out sections. But the entire boardwalk really needs to be replaced.”
Re-opening has been scheduled to take place on July 1, 2025. Gallie said, based on current progress, that date is still realistic. “To this non-project manager’s eye, they appear to be making better progress than expected,” Gallie said.
Gallie added that public is getting used to the park being closed. He said the first couple weeks of the closure were an issue.
“Vehicles were often in the way of the construction crew,” Gallie said. “After we moved the barricades further south, to the Skyline Trail drive, we’ve seen fewer people sneaking into the north side of the river. Mostly boaters and bicyclists. We continue to patrol and evict people who bike or hike past the multiple signs that say to keep out.
Regardless of the closure of the park north of the river, parts of the park remain accessible to the public, including the south side of the river, the Skyline Trail and the trails south of that area, along with the trails that begin at the end of Piney Ridge Road.
“Day use seems to be pretty good in the southern part of the park,” Gallie said. “For the first couple of weeks, we saw a lot of beach traffic along M-116. It seems typical for that area of the park for the fall season. Lately, salmon have been moving into the river, so we see a lot of anglers on the south side of the river and people walking to the bridge to view the fish. With the more typical fall temperatures we’re seeing this week, I would hope that more people are going to be visiting our south trails.”
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