The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along with Representative Pete Visclosky (IN-1) and officials from the City of Portage broke ground Wednesday afternoon at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction on the Lake Michigan Waterfront Portage Park project. This Waterfront Park project will be completed through a partnership between the Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Portage.
“The Corps of Engineers always appreciates these partnerships,” said Col. Christopher Drew, Chicago District Commander of the Corps of Engineers. “Lake Michigan is one of our national treasures and we are looking forward to working with this team to help restore and reconnect the ecological diversity in the area. We’ll come in and take out all the invasive species here now and help to restore the native ecosystem and environment.”
“This 69 acres will tie into the other natural environments we have here,” continued Drew. “This project is important but the reinforcing effects it will have are going to be substantial. Everyone in the Region can benefit from this park once it’s completed.”
The restoration project is part of the Lake Michigan coastline in Porter County and will help to establish native plant community diversity, restore waterways connectivity and restore rare wetland communities and native species richness. Some of the benefits that will come as a result of the project are increases in-stream habitat, reestablishment of stream hydraulics, riparian vegetation restoration and the restoration of ridge and swale topography with wetland, prairie, and savanna plant communities within the coastal zone of Lake Michigan.
Rep. Pete Visclosky attended and spoke at the groundbreaking and put things in perspective historically.
“Former Portage Mayor Doug Olsen said to me, in 1999, ‘Pete, we need a park’,” Congressman Visclosky said. “Mayor Olsen saw the future and Mayor James Snyder has continued that effort. I commend Mayor Snyder, the City of Portage, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their continued efforts to create good paying jobs all while having a positive impact on our environment. The Marquette Plan was initiated to revitalize Northwest Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline, a resource of tremendous value to the residents of Indiana's First Congressional District. The progress that continues to occur with investment projects such as the one initiated here will build a strong economic foundation for future generations. Furthermore, this project will restore wetlands, support the eradication of invasive species, improve waterway connectivity, and, most importantly, put people to work."
“It’s heartwarming to see this project get under way,” Rep. Visclosky continued. “This idea has taken on a life of it’s own. It’s one of those pieces that in 50-75 years will still be in place and will carry with it economic and quality of life benefits.”
“This is really exciting for the City of Portage and the Region as a whole,” said Portage Mayor, James Snyder. Congress and the City, both public and private sectors, have stressed that we’re partners on this project. We are all working together to make this happen and this is something we can all own when it’s finished.”
A five-year contract for the construction of the park was awarded to Encap in September 2014 in the amount of $3.2 million. Regrading, demolition and other construction activities will take place in year one. Planting will occur in year two and years 3-5 will be plant establishment and monitoring. Federal participation in the project translates to, essentially, tax dollars being returned to the Region for the benefit of its citizens.