Laying the Groundwork for a Safe, Inviting Island Transformation

Flowing hundreds of miles through Michigan, the Grand River splits around Harbor Island and runs past Grand Haven, a popular lakefront destination, before reaching the serene shoreline of Lake Michigan. 

Harbor Island is the site of an in-depth environmental study to identify the extent of coal ash and potential per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination, likely the result of the island’s past use as an industrial site. The City of Grand Haven brought us on board for environmental consulting and strategic communications to better understand the site’s constraints and options for remediation, and to create redevelopment concepts based on community input. 

“Work today, protect tomorrow” is the city’s slogan for the efforts underway at Harbor Island. Working closely with the city, we’re developing a phased plan to mitigate health and environmental risks on the island, and considering remediation options to prepare the site for future uses aligned with community needs. We revised a past remediation strategy to eliminate dewatering, opting for excavation and verification methods to remove coal and impacted soils from an 11-acre area, resulting in significant cost savings. 

Grand Haven’s community is passionate about Harbor Island’s future and invested in understanding the extent of contamination. In parallel with our environmental work, our strategic communications team works closely with the city to maintain an open dialogue with residents through the Renew Harbor Island website, providing updates, reports and opportunities for public engagement. This transparency ensures that the community remains informed and involved in the island's transformation.

Reflecting a collaborative approach to the island's future, our architecture team led a community visioning session and developed three nature-focused redevelopment concepts emphasizing green spaces, recreational amenities like trails and boardwalks, art installations, natural wetlands and solar fields.