News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The water feature inside the fountain at Culligan Plaza in Alpena gushes water on Monday. City officials decided to run the fountain for a few weeks until demolition begins and the new plaza is constructed. The art piece in the current fountain is expected to remain on display somewhere in the city.

ALPENA — Construction projects at parks in Alpena are either underway or slated to begin soon.

The demolition of the old tennis and basketball courts at Bay View Park is underway, which will pave the way for a new sports complex, and the construction of the new restroom and pavilion slated near the bandshell at Bay View is also ready to commence.

The project to renovate Culligan Plaza is still slated to begin this spring, as city officials will review bids for the project, which then have to be reviewed by the state, and then approved by the council, maybe as early as the end of May.

The Culligan Plaza project also includes a renovation of the parking lot and construction of a new restroom facility downtown.

On Monday, City Engineer Steve Shultz provided an update on the local projects that will add more amenities to the parks.

Shultz said people will soon see contractors beginning to build the new restroom facility near the Kiwanis Kiddie Park and bandshell. He said materials are already being delivered, and soon the structure will begin to be erected. While the project is ongoing, Shultz said the parking lot at the kiddie park will be closed, but the road that goes down to the breakwall will remain open.

“I have a bunch of submittals approved and that is ready to go,” he said. “Some of the materials, like manholes and piping, are already in the parking lot. We will have to close the parking lot, but all of the events scheduled for the bandshell this year are still moving forward, but that parking lot will be unusable.”

In another area of Bay View, the Friends of the Alpena Courts are making progress on the project that will see the new Bay View Sports Complex created.

When phase one is complete this summer, three regulation-size tennis courts, five pickleball courts, and three basketball courts will be in place, each with new surfaces. New LED lights will illuminate the entire complex, and new fencing surrounding the tennis and pickleball areas will be erected. Windscreens surrounding the tennis and pickleball areas will also be installed.

The total cost of phase one of the project is approximately $340,000, with the project being paid for with local donations, as well as a generous $100,000 grant from the Alpena Youth and Recreation Commission.

The commission allocates tax revenue from the county-wide property tax earmarked for recreation.

Phase two of the project will include the construction of a new pavilion that will be built by Mike Kendziorski, who constructed the wooden bridge and water tower at Duck Park. That part of the project is expected to take place next year.

If things remain on schedule, the Friends of the Alpena Courts hopes to meet the goal to be playing on the new courts by July 1, Ron Fusina, a member of the Friends group, said in an email to The News.

Culligan Plaza is undergoing a complete redo. Alpena officials had hoped to begin the project last spring, but there were many requirements the city needed to deal with to comply with the nearly $1 million Community Development Block Grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to use toward the projected $1.2 million cost of the renovation of the plaza and a new restroom facility near it.

In order to receive the grant, the city agreed to pay a 10% cash match of $118,555. A $20,000 grant from the Alpena County Youth and Recreation Committee was added to the pot. A $100,000 donation was also made from the First Federal of Northern Michigan Legacy Foundation.

When completed, the new plaza, which will retain its name, will include a performance stage, a fire feature, and a rolling river with miniature waterfalls. It will also contain many trees and flowers, and features concrete, rock, and brick out of respect for Alpena’s history.

Because the plaza and fountain are entering their final weeks before being torn down, Shultz said the city decided to make the fountain operational for a short time, so people have one last chance to enjoy it and take photos if they want.

“It gives people one last chance to enjoy it or pose for a photo in front of it,” he said. “We never made an announcement when we turned the fountain off last fall that it would be the last time people would see it, so we figured it makes sense to have it running, at least temporarily.”

When the old fountain is torn down, the city would like to have the feature preserved. Shultz said the city has been approached about several ways to keep the art piece in the eye of the public. He said it could possibly be displayed at the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan or maybe a local artist would like to utilize it in a statue that could be strategically positioned in the city. Shultz said there is still a chance it would be included in the new design of the plaza, but he added, it may not fit the updated theme.

“It is still kind of up in the air, but I have a feeling we won’t see the last of it when the fountain is torn down,” he said.

Another project that could begin this fall is the construction of a restroom facility with an attached pavilion at Duck Park, where the proposed River Center was to be built. Shutz said that the project could begin in the autumn and, depending on the weather, could be completed by the end of the year or in the spring of 2026.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.