LANSING — A multimillion renovation of the Brenke Fish Ladder won’t be finished in time for the annual fall Dam Jam in Old Town, but officials expect the project to wrap before the snow flies.
A new outdoor mini-amphitheater is expected to open in October at the Brenke Fish Ladder, bringing a permanent stage and seating for about 350 people on the banks of the Grand River.
The new theater was expected to be home for the annual Dam Jam concert, which is planned for Sept. 25-27 this year, but construction delays mean that won’t happen. The annual concert will instead likely happen at a nearby location yet to be determined, said Laurie Strauss Baumer, president and CEO of the Capital Region Community Foundation.
Dam Jam should, however, be at the new venue in 2026, she said.
The amphitheater is a concrete stage that takes up a bowl-shaped space that was aesthetic, rather than functional, so with a bunch of new concrete, the area now has stadium-style seating with the Grand River visible in a sunken gap between the stage and seating. It’s a much larger stage than before for musicians, theater performances or community events, and has more built-in electricity and sound options for performers.
The $3.5 million upgrade is funded in part from private fundraising, largely through the Capital Region Community Foundation, with about half the cost being covered by a $1.7 million state grant given in 2023 from the Legislature. About $150 million from the state budget was allocated to the region that year, including $40 million for a new city hall, $6.2 million for the Moores Park Pool and $5 million for the Lansing Center.
The city of Lansing will pay to redo Lansing River Trail paths, lighting and some other infrastructure that was taken down around the fish ladder to do the construction.
The fish ladder was built in 1981 to help fish swimming up the Grand River pass the dam.
The theater and seating are the showpieces but the park itself will also get significant upgrades: Permanant metal instruments, an adult-sized swing that faces the Grand River, a working fireplace and picnic tables will be added.
Lighting throughout the park will illuminate trees, an idea inspired by the temporary lighting brought in for Dam Jam, extending that to be a permanent feature, Baumer said.
There will be a variety of performances and events on the new stage but most of the time, it will just be a park on the river and that’s one of the selling points, she said.
“Most communities with a river flowing through downtown capitalize on that, instead we’ve put our backs to the river,” Baumer said. “It’s time we face forward and appreciate and capitalize on the asset that is our river.”
The fish ladder project is part of a long-term plan, Baumer said, to pull the heart of the city toward the Grand River, which she said is underused in Lansing. The community foundation has done projects at Rotary Park on Riverfront Drive (2019) and the Play Michigan! accessible park in Adado River Park on Grand Avenue (2023) and plans to build on the connections between the three projects, she said.
Standing in the park, looking over the freshly-poured cement stage on Aug. 21, the city’s parks and recreation director, Brett Kaschinske, ticked off the senses that visitors can expect.
“You’re going to see the sights with the fireplace and lighting and you’ll hear the sound of the water, all of those things come into play,” he said.
The fall is about to bring salmon season to the fish ladder, Kaschinske said, when people can watch the fish ‘climb’ the 1981 structure all way up and down a series of pools so they can go past the dam.
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: The Brenke Fish Ladder is getting a new $3.5M amphitheater. Here’s when it will open
Reporting by Mike Ellis, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
