Water system project will mean improvements to Mulligan's Hollow

Work is beginning to start on additional improvements to the Northwest Ottawa Water System, near Mulligan's Hollow, and with that project comes plans by the city to optimize recreation options in the area. This work follows a renovation of the water treatment facility on Sherman Avenue that expanded output from 15.5 million gallons per day to 23.25 million gallons per day. The cost of the expansion project was $15.4 million.

Alex Doty

Grand Haven

Jul 8, 2011

Ottawa County is currently in the process of building a new backwash tank on city property and installing a second raw water line across the city’s Mulligan’s Hollow property to the NOWS pump station at Grand Haven State Park during the 2011 construction season.

“To do that, they need to use some city property at Mulligan’s Hollow,” City Manager Pat McGinnis said.

The current tennis courts next to the water facility will be used as a staging area for construction crews for the backwash tank construction. Once the tank is completed, the old blue backwash tank will be decommissioned and removed next summer.

The county will restore the tennis courts once they are done using them as a staging area, and the county will give the city $57,405 for property rights — which would be used by the city to make improvements to the Mulligan’s Hollow Recreation Area once all work is complete. McGinnis said this money will be put in the city’s 2012-13 budget.

“I think it’s a great idea,” City Councilman Mike Fritz said at council’s meeting on Tuesday.

He said if the city is going to be getting money from the county for the water system project, it might as well be used to go back and make improvements to the park.

Work planned by the city includes relocating the basketball courts from next to the Imagination Station to the site of the current backwash tank, improving pedestrian safety with a new walkway on the south side of the parking lot, and a portion of the refurbished tennis court will be repainted and given new nets and posts.

According to McGinnis, the relocation of the basketball court would put it in a spot that is more consistent with other activities in the area, including the Skate Park.

The current location of the basketball courts might be returned to green space.

The current scheduling for the water improvement plant calls for the tank construction to last through the fall of this year.

A new water line from the plant to the state park pump station will be put underneath Harbor Drive during the Harbor Drive reconstruction project. This project is slated to begin in September and completed in May 2012.