After more than a decade of planning, the effort to restore the Grand River to a more natural condition through downtown Grand Rapids kicked off on Monday.
City leaders alongside member of Grand Rapids WhiteWater held a groundbreaking ceremony on the Gillett Bridge to mark the start of construction.
The project is set to remove four low-head dams from the river, restore the water’s natural flow through the riverbed, reshape the banks throughout downtown to make it more accessible for neighbors. The first phase of construction, estimated at $14.56 million, is expected to take roughly two years to complete…