• The New Freshwater Research and Innovation Center will be built on the property. Construction starts in November of 2025.
• Current tenants at the Michigan Heritage Alliance need to move by Oct. 31, 2025.
• Finding property close to the Discovery Pier where it parks its two large ships has been a challenge that includes zoning issues.
The Maritime Heritage Alliance needs a new home for its wood shop to make way for the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center in Greilickville.
They need to move by the end of October in 2025. And that’s been hard.
The Alliance has rented the property off West Bay Shore Drive for two decades, where volunteers teach people of all ages how to sail, crew and restore boats of all sizes.
“We built a schooner on an idea, a dream, and completed her 33 years ago," said Heather Jankens, the group's executive coordinator. "OK, we have to find a new wood shop. We’ve done hard things and that’s OK. We can find a new home.”
They came close on one site but the Alliance needs commercial zoning and this property was agricultural.
Officials at the Discovery Center & Pier have offered to help them look for property.
Matt McDonough is CEO of the Discovery Center and Pier, which rents the property to the Alliance. He said they’ve offered to help the group find its next home.
“We’ll plan to continue to meet with them in terms of helping them find a location nearby," McDonough said. "Also one of the buildings is actually moveable. It's a large steel frame building about 7200 square feet in size we’re willing to give them that.”
McDonough said they rented the property to the Alliance at a discounted rate, but it wasn’t a sustainable business model.
The Discovery Center was charged with “relaunching” the site in 2018 following a change to its governing board.
The new innovation center will develop new technology to address concerns on the Great Lakes and help bring it to the commercial market.
The Alliance can still dock their two large wooden boats at the Discovery Pier, the schooner "Madeline" and “Champion” a Concordia Cutter.
Jankens said it’s important to keep the wood shop close to the pier to save time on projects.
Construction on the Center starts next year in November.
