News Photo by Steve Schulwitz River Center Board Chair Judy Kalmanek gives a presentation about the proposed River Center project to the Alpena Municipal Council on Monday. The project was broken up into two phases and scaled back because of funding challenges. Phase One will consist of a new pavilion and restrooms at Duck Park. Construction could begin early in 2023.

ALPENA — The cost to construct a new interactive River Center at Duck Park in Alpena has forced the scope of the project to be scaled back.

A lack of funding and the prospect of not being able to get large grants to pay for the estimated $4 million facility required the Thunder Bay River Center Board to make amendments to the original design.

Now, the project will consist of two phases, with a pavilion and separate restroom facility built first and a smaller center built sometime afterward.

If things go well, construction on the new pavilion and restrooms could begin in the spring of 2023. It is unknown when the balance of the project would commence and be completed.

On Monday, the Alpena Municipal Council received an update on the project from Thunder Bay River Center Board Chair Judy Kalmanek who walked the council members through what has transpired over the last couple years and what the future holds.

The new plan for the center does away with one wing of the facility, a multi-purpose classroom, laboratories, and other features. Still, Kalmanek said many portions of the original design will still be included.

Kalmanek said if the center is to become a reality, changes were needed, and an amended plan was required.

“The plan has changed because of money,” she said. “We just can’t possibly afford it the way it was.”

When finished, the center will serve as a gauge of the watershed’s health. It will operate year-round as an interpretive resource for students, teachers, fisherman and women, hunters, local retailers and agribusiness owners, industries, and for all who live in and accept responsibility to conserve the Thunder Bay River Watershed.

The city has been allocating money toward the river center project, and voted to allow the wildlife board to apply for a Rural Business Enterprise Grant from Rural Development, which is an Agency of the United States Department Agriculture. The funds will allow the river center board to complete the final 20% of the engineering and architectural plans for the River Center building.

The cost estimate for the remaining work, including staff and board project hours is $32,126. The grant request will be for $19,600 with a city match of $12,526. The funds for the city match will be taken from assigned funds set aside for the project and would not come from the budget.

Kalmanek said significant fundraising progress was squashed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. She said the River Center board was working with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation on a large grant that may have covered about half of the cost of the full project.

When the pandemic hit, and the state began to shift funding priorities to help existing small businesses, the MEDC changed directions for what types of projects they were going to fund.

“Getting money from the MEDC was the plan from the very beginning and we were counting on that money,” she said. “The pandemic really hurt us really badly, in our fundraising and other funding opportunities.”