Adobe Acrobat File:current conditions.pdf

This document is a text-only version of the original Adobe Acrobat file. Graphics and formatting may be lost in the conversion from pdf to html.

View the Adobe Acrobat version of this file.

                                                                                                                                              


                                               issues which, 
Part I                                         until only re-
                                               cently, ap-
                                               peared intrac-
                                               table.  
Current Conditions and                          
Recommendations For                            Although his-
                                               torically util-
the Future                                     ized for indus-
                                               try and bulk 
Historical Overview                            shipping, the 
                                               City of Mus-
Due to the City's industrial legacy, few       kegon also has 
places along Muskegon Lake's south-            a long history 
ern shore have been left unaltered by          as a cross lake 
human activity. The extensive lumber-          passenger port 
ing activity which took place in Mus-          linking many 
kegon during the 19th and early 20th           cities on the 
Centuries resulted in a wholesale re-          western side                                 Former Goodrich Docks 
configuration of the shoreline through         of Lake 
dredging, filling and other activities         Michigan to                                       
designed to make the shoreline more            Muskegon. During the off season, ships           Over the past several decades, bulk 
conducive to shipping.                         such as the Milwaukee Clipper were               shipping on the Great Lakes has con-
                                               used to transport freight (including ve-         centrated in fewer ports and reduced in 
By the middle of the Century, the lum-         hicles from Detroit) to various ports in         tonnage due to the ascendancy of the 
ber industry had largely given way to          Illinois and Wisconsin.                          interstate highway system and the 
heavy "smoke stack" industry such as                                                            trucking and containerization it has fa-
steel production. The cumulative effect        During the height of Great Lakes ship-           cilitated. As a smaller Great Lakes port 
of this prolonged and intensive exploi-        ping (post WWII) Muskegon also saw               without the infrastructure, or shipping 
tation (utilization) of the natural harbor     regular shipments from European ports            volume required for containerized 
and its waterfront  (a situation certainly     whose ships made their way to Muske-             shipping, Muskegon, has suffered as a 
not unique to Muskegon) resulted in a          gon via the Saint Lawrence Seaway and            result of this new paradigm. 
series of environmental and land use           later, the Erie Canal. 
                                                


                                                    Waterfront Redevelopment Sub-Plan 8