The state of Michigan is seeking to take over the operations of St. Jean Boat Launch in Detroit, a city-owned facility leased to the same company that operates the adjacent Riverside Marina.
In her proposed 2027 budget, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer included a line item of $271,000 for a long-term lease at St. Jean Boat Launch. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources staff would run the launch, said Tom Bissett, DNR Parks and Recreation Division assistant chief.
“We’ve been talking about the opportunity for the DNR to come in and operate the boat launch and the city to do what they choose with the marina,” Bissett said. “We’d really like to invest in improved access to the Detroit River, and St. Jean just seems like a really good opportunity based on timing.”
The city leases St. Jean to ABC Professional Enterprise, LLC, the same contractor that operates Riverside Marina and Reid Memorial Park, according to a condition assessment report the city conducted in 2022.
The state of Michigan reached out to Detroit about its interest in leasing the boat launch, Detroit Media Relations Director John Roach said.
“The city did receive an unsolicited offer from the state to lease the boat launch,” Roach said. “There is no agreement to do so, and the lease with the current vendor is in place through August of this year.”
Jason McGuire, CEO of ABC Enterprises and operator of Riverside Marina, said the DNR should seek input from ABC and the community about what the residents want to see done on the city’s waterfront.
“ABC is definitely working for what is best for the citizens and the community,” McGuire said. “If the state’s going to do a better job or going to put more money into (the boat launch), I’m absolutely with it. But if we can keep operations inside the city, I would love for the city to keep it in the city as well.”
ABC Enterprises aims to expand the access to the water for non-boaters as well as boat owners by promoting services like boat rentals and water taxis, McGuire said.
Detroit River boating access limited
The DNR analyzed boating access on the upper Detroit River in a 2019 report titled “Detroit River Boating Access Study.” The report said the limited number of convenient, maintained and secure boat launches and parking areas “do not meet the public’s needs.”
The report highlighted St. Jean as the only public boating access site within a five-mile radius of downtown Detroit.
The launch was in decent condition but hard to find and very heavily used, according to the report. It has six launch ramps, 75 car/trailer parking spots and “additional land existing with the opportunity for expansion.”
Tim Muir, 51, of Harrison Township, rarely uses the St. Jean boat launch anymore and certainly not on weekends. He said he has waited for more than two hours to launch his boat there.
Access to the northern Detroit River, a popular destination for walleye and other sport fishing, is lacking, Muir said. The DNR should build a boat launch on Belle Isle, the city-owned island park that the DNR has operated as a state park since 2014, he said.
“It kind of puts Michigan in a bad light in my opinion, saying we have this incredible resource but limited access to it,” Muir said.
Muir, a member of Lake St. Clair Walleye Association and Michigan United Conservation Clubs, supports the DNR’s proposal to operate the St. Jean boat launch. He said the department likely would keep the launch open for more hours and allow it to be accessed with only an annual state parks pass known as a “Recreation Passport,” which costs $15 annually.
Muir usually fishes on Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. He doesn’t get out on the Detroit River much because there are so few public boating access sites.
“The Detroit River is arguably the best walleye fishing in the entire country in the spring,” Muir said. “Anywhere on the Detroit River from ice out through Memorial Day, every launch is packed every Saturday to the gills. There’s just not enough access.”
In surveys conducted for the DNR’s 2019 Detroit River boating access study, respondents said they wanted more opportunities to launch into the northern portion of the Detroit River.
River access is “significantly underdeveloped compared to the current and forecasted need,” the report states. The authors recommended the DNR coordinate with Detroit to “identify sites suitable for immediate, near-term and long-term improvements.”
DNR’s plan for boat launch
The St. Jean boat launch is in fair condition, according to the city’s condition assessment report. The concrete launch ramp and metal platform are in poor condition and need repairs, the report said.
The DNR does not have a cost estimate for the repairs officials would like to do there, such as dredging around the launch, expanding the parking lot and fixing the ramp, Bissett said.
ABC Enterprise’s McGuire said St. Jean needs at least $10 million in repairs. He said ABC has the capacity to undertake those repairs.
The DNR’s $271,000 line item is enough to cover personnel needs at the launch, McGuire estimated. ABC Enterprises can keep personnel costs down by sharing security resources between Riverside Marina and St. Jean, he said.
The $271,000 request Whitmer included in her budget proposal for the St. Jean boat launch would cover management of both St. Jean and the nearby Gray Haven State Harbor, but not improvements or repairs at either site, the DNR’s Bissett said. The department has not generated cost estimates for repairs at the launch.
Gray Haven State Harbor, a 78-slip harbor north of St. Jean boat launch, also needs major repairs, Bissett said.
The DNR came into possession of Grayhaven Marina in 2010 through a legal settlement with the city of Detroit, DNR spokesman Ed Golder said. Since then, it has spent $21,453 on emergency repairs to one of the docks and paid $39,528 for gate and fence repairs.
The department is assessing options for redeveloping the harbor and has allocated $100 million for a study of the harbor’s condition and recommendations for the harbor’s future.
“The current infrastructure is past its useful life, and full replacement for docks and the harbor master building is being recommended as the most cost-effective approach to continue public service and river access,” Golder said.
The preliminary construction cost estimates range from $5 million to $6.8 million, Golder said.
The DNR has previously leased the harbor out as a concession, but parks staff would like the department to repair issues at the harbor, such as its electrical system, which Bissett said should be done while the staff operates the facility.
Gray Haven will be open this year but in “reduced service mode,” Bissett said. Three of the four docks will not have electric service, he said.
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Whitmer seeks DNR takeover of Detroit’s St. Jean boat launch on river
Reporting by Carol Thompson, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
