The Elmwood Township marina closed for the season about a month ago. But while the boaters are now gone, marina staff and contractors are still hard at work on marina improvements despite the winter storms, including building a new boater’s pavilion, raising a seawall, and parking lot expansions.
These are the final parts of a multi-phase marina project that has been 20 years in the making. Jeff Shaw, who served on the marina committee prior to becoming Elmwood Township supervisor in 2016, said the project’s three phases are meant to improve all the marina’s shoreside amenities, excluding the docks.
The project costs about $6 million in total, Shaw said, about half of which is from the stillongoing phase III of improvements. A large amount is being paid through grants, including 50% matches through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Waterways Program.
The township has also taken feedback from boaters and the harbormaster to cut significant costs at their September 2023 and October 2024 meetings. Shaw said that the township is trying to minimize costs where possible while still making the best possible, longest-lasting facilities for marina users.
“Our hope is that in 50 years, people will think we did a good job preparing for the future,” Shaw said.
Harbormaster Dan Jenuwine said this third phase of the project features improvements targeted towards long-term slipholders who moor and live on their boats in the marina during the summer. The Elmwood marina offers bath and laundry services to these visitors, but since the old bathhouse was about 30 years old, Jenuwine said it was time for some improvements.
“They’re going to be really, really pleased, I think, with what they’re going to get,” Jenuwine said. “(There’re) the new shower facilities and the new men’s and women’s restroom facilities. But in addition to that, there’s a day room, which is going to be an indoor boater’s lounge. It’s going to have some nice furniture in it and there’s going to be a couple big screen TVs.”
This new boater’s lounge will be a place for slipholders to gather during foul weather. Jenuwine also said they plan to make this space available for rent in the marina’s off-season once the building is completed, since it can accommodate a decent number of people for events. The boater’s lounge and showers/ restrooms will have separate entrances to help with privacy.
And outside the new building, marina staff plan to have an outdoor covered porch that’s oneand- a-half times as large as the old pavilion. It will have its own furniture and six permanently connected barbeque grills.
The new building is slated to open to marina users sometime in June 2025, Jenuwine said. But the project is running behind schedule. The old showers and restrooms were demolished back in August. Contractors began drilling helicals at the same site to support the new building, but they kept striking hard surfaces, and what was supposed to take two weeks dragged on for two months.
The foundation for the building is now closer to completion, and Jenuwine said they would be pouring concrete around the time this edition goes to print. They are looking to pour the material before temperatures get so cold that the concrete will freeze.
Construction work is also ongoing at the south end of the marina to construct a new seawall. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) required the township to build a seawall along Brewery Creek.
“EGLE has mandated that we have to put a seawall in down there. Which is a good thing, because in the high waters, there was a lot of erosion of land coming out of Brewery Creek. So, this will stabilize the south property line of the marina,” Jenuwine explained.
The boater’s pavilion and seawall are the main features in phase III of the marina improvements. Looking ahead, however, Jenuwine said he hopes to replace the marina’s A-Dock in 2027. In between these projects, he wants to consider expanding the marina if possible. He hopes to gather more information about this at the Docks Expo and Marina Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
“There are six marinas in Grand Traverse bay with about 1,500 unique individuals on waiting lists for slips,” Jenuwine said. “With that demand, there needs to be some exploration to marina expansion. Is there a way for us to increase the number of slips at the Elmwood marina? There’s a lot of talk in town about another marina going in down the street, (but) that will never fulfill the demand that’s here right now.”
Jenuwine further said that the marina will likely post applications for part-time seasonal workers in January. The harbormaster said that they will mainly try to reach retirees and senior citizens who, like Jenuwine, are “looking for an opportunity to get out and socialize with other people in a beautiful environment for four to five hours a day.”
Back in November, the Elmwood Township Board approved the $110,000 purchase of a fish grinder station to shred fish carcasses without contaminating the sewer system. The township board also purchased five circulation fans to maintain water movement during the winter and protect the launch ramps, at a cost not to exceed $5,000.
And before that, Jenuwine recommended cutting some costs on the marina project, which reduced a $450,000 order to about $160,000. This included cutting $180,000 for staff lounge improvements, since the proposed amenities were already available at the main marina office. About $76,000 for underground electrical conduits was cut as well.
