The rickety pier at Galloway Lake Park is gone. In its place is a slightly longer, stronger pier and a larger deck ready for visitors.
The update was part of an Oakland County Water Resources Commission infrastructure renovation project. The WRC will host a ribbon cutting on Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the project.
The new deck is one change in the 63-acre park, which is also getting a larger parking lot. The city has plans for more renovations and has applied for a $1 million Spark grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
“We’re really very happy with this new pier,” said Kathalee James, a Pontiac council woman and founder of Friends of Pontiac Parks.
She wrote a $25,000 grant for a consultant to gather community ideas and make recommendations for improving Galloway Lake Park, which included replacing the old pier and deck. She praised the work of other community leaders, including District 5 Councilman William Parker and Lucy Payne of District 5’s citizens advisory board as well as Herrington Hills Residents Association leader Jean Matthews for helping the community join the planning process.
“If that kind of community engagement wasn’t happening, I doubt we’d have seen the WRC willing to pay for the cost of replacing the pier and deck,” she said. “People were really interested in seeing something done at that park.”
“We have a design plan and the city has applied for grants, so hopefully we’ll see more improvements starting next year,” she said, adding that the contractor’s recommendations included demolishing the restroom building as well as the long-closed David Ewalt Community Center at the park’s entrance. The current plan includes a pavilion that would include new restrooms, she said.
James said she hopes the future of Galloway Lake Park includes a sign or plaque that honors the late David Ewart’s dedication and advocacy for the city’s parks. He was a teacher before becoming Pontiac’s superintendent of parks and recreation from 1971 to 1977 and served as an acting city manager.,
The WRC work included rebuilding a pump station in the park near the lake as part of the $3.9 million Bay Street sewer and pump station rehabilitation project.
Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash said he hopes the infrastructure renovation project enhances and restores recreational opportunities for the community.
Earlier this year, a closed-circuit TV inspection of the sanctuary sewer showed corrosion resulting from hydrogen sulfide (H2S) that led to immediate plans for significant repairs to the sewer system. H2S is also known as sewer gas, swamp gas, stink damp, and sour damp, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It’s a colorless gas but emits a rotten-egg smell even at low concentrations. Sewer and rescue workers can be overcome by the gas, which can also be extremely flammable, according to OSHA.
The county’s water resources engineering team worked with a contractor, Fishbeck, Inc., on installing a new 1,650-foot force main from the Bay Street Pump Station to the Perry Street force main, which included rerouting the new 30-inch sewer around the new Amazon building to connect to an existing manhole. New pumps and pump station controls were installed as well as a new system for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in the wet well area.
Wednesday’s ribbon cutting will include remarks by Nash, Pontiac Mayor Tim Griemel and other WRC officials and light refreshments in front of the pier at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11 at Galloway Lake Park, 1460 N. Perry St. in Pontiac.
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