Project Updates Archives

While it only took eight months from the start of construction to project completion, the City of Ludington’s new Legacy Plaza has been a community dream for well over 35 years. With the help of a generous grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) through a Community Development Block Grant, the vision of Legacy Plaza finally became a reality for this small lakeshore community.

July 1, 2021 marked a special day in the history of Ludington. On a picture-perfect summer day, members of the community gathered downtown to celebrate and dedicate this $2.1 million project on what was formerly North James Street, between Ludington Avenue and Court Street. The plaza is designed to honor the legacy of the Native Americans—the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi tribes—living along the shores of Lake Michigan and nearby forests, as well as the lumber and maritime industries that grew the community of Ludington to become what it is today.

Legacy Plaza is a welcoming space in the heart of downtown and includes a farmers market pavilion, restroom facility, raised performance stage, gas fireplace with seating wall, decorative lighting, green space and native rain gardens, as well as site furnishings tied together with decorative concrete and landscaping.

Those who dedicated the new space included Ludington Mayor Steve Miller, Ludington Community Development Director Heather Tykoski, Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Sue Devries, 35th District State Senator Curt VanderWall (R-Ludington), and a representative of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Jay Sam, who performed a ritual ceremony. The Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce performed the ribbon-cutting.

Prein&Newhof provided site design, water main and storm water sewer design, landscape architecture, and construction observation services. Members of the Prein&Newhof design and construction observation team included Matt Hulst, PE, Project Manager; and Landscape Architects Matt Levandoski, PLA, Paul Reinhold, PLA, and Collin Manns. Matt Tipping, PE from Century AE oversaw the design for the restroom facility, the fireplace, and the site’s electrical needs. Heirloom Carpentry & Construction’s Josh Wickham was the contractor project manager.

While the space is now in use, fundraising will continue to install a few additional features, including an archway, a digital kiosk, and canvas sides for off-season use of the pavilion. Prein&Newhof is proud to see this vision become reality and is honored to see farther with the City of Ludington for the benefit of all those who live in and visit the area.

Plainfield Charter Township recently announced that the State of Michigan awarded the Township a $4.3 million grant to extend municipal drinking water to an additional 147 homes that were not included in the 2020 settlement with Wolverine Worldwide, but that are affected by PFAS in their private wells. Prein&Newhof helped Plainfield Township apply for this Consolidation and Contamination Risk Reduction (C2R2) Grant in January 2021. “We are very happy with the news and excited to continue helping Plainfield Township in this meaningful way,” said Prein&Newhof Project Manager Kevin Gritters, PE.

“This is another positive step in a major, multi-year project to bring municipal drinking water to over 1,000 contaminated properties spread across two townships,” said Gritters. “Last year Plainfield Township was able to add nearly 5 miles of watermain in the public right-of-way, which connected 250 homes to safe drinking water by the end of the construction season. This year, we have been working to help Plainfield Township add another 9 miles of watermain for 300 more homes to be able to connect to its drinking water system. Now with this C2R2 Grant, we can construct an additional 2 miles of water main in the next three years—connecting four more neighborhoods to the municipal water system.”

In 2018, Plainfield Township began a pilot study to remove PFAS from source water at its Drinking Water Treatment Plant. Granulated activated carbon (GAC) material was installed in the water plant’s filtration beds to replace existing rapids sand filters. Following the GAC installation, intensive analytical testing showed that GAC was highly effective at removing PFAS compounds.

In the Spring of 2020, construction began to extend water connections to residents who had the highest levels of PFAS contamination in private wells. Affected properties were prioritized based on PFAS concentrations and water system layout. Last year, contractors connected 250 residential properties (green on the map) to the Township’s municipal water system. Plans are in progress for the remaining properties (blue) to be connected in the next 1–3 years. Recently added are the properties that will be covered by the C2R2 Grant (red):

Butternut and Bittersweet neighborhood (2021 construction)
Woodwater and Rapidfall neighborhood (2022 construction)
Mall, Ripley, and Austerlitz neighborhood (2022 construction)
Warwick Glen Drive (2023 construction)

This year, contractors are or will be constructing water system extensions in Plainfield and Algoma Townships. You can follow each area’s construction updates here:

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