MILLERSBURG - A groundbreaking ceremony for a trailhead along the Alpena-to-Cheboygan Northeast State Trail will take place Tuesday in Millersburg.
Joe Libby, county resource officer who helped organize the ceremony, said it's set for 11 a.m. near the former Detroit and Mackinac Depot in the heart of the village. The depot is located at the corner of Luce and Linden streets.
At the ceremony, county officials will sign the contract with Meridian Construction, the company that submitted the winning bid for the $705,000 project, Libby said. Emily Meyerson, trailways coordinator for Top of Michigan Trails Council, politicians and county commissioners likely will be there to witness the shovels go in the ground.
From there, contractors will begin moving dirt to shape the site within two weeks, Jake Guter, the architect overseeing the project, said. Materials for structures at the trailhead currently are being ordered, and the project is set to be finished by Sept. 30.
The overlying concept for the trailhead was to tie it in with local history and develop a meeting area for the community, Guter said.
"It really has a local benefit as well as it helps the state with their trails network," he said.
Fact Box
What: Millersburg trailhead groundbreaking
Where: Millersburg Historic Depot, Luce and Linden streets
When: Tuesday, 11 a.m.
When finished, the trailhead will have a pavilion with bathrooms and a fire pit and seating in the center, Melody Beswick, Millersburg village clerk, said. It also will have a skate park that will double as an ice rink in the winter, as well as parking for vehicles with trailers.
"And, of course, the depot is there, the historic depot," she said. "That's what the whole thing is about."
The depot will be open Tuesday as well, Virgil Freel, Millersburg Historical Society president, said. Inside are pictures from the village's lumbering days, and artifacts from the turn of the century.
"I think the impressive thing is the building itself," he said "The building itself has been brought back to its original appearance," a major task considering the dilapidated state it was in when work started five years ago.
Jordan Travis can be reached via email at jtravis@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.