PARK TOWNSHIP (WHTC) – It’s a milestone for the historic pumphouse that once served the Ottawa Beach Hotel in Park Township. Local residents Thursday got their first opportunity to see the inside of the 114-year-old pumphouse, that once provided electricity and water to the famed hotel that was destroyed by fire in 1923. The dedication of the pumphouse, along with the formal opening of a new walkway along Lake Macatawa, is just part of $2.7 million of improvements Ottawa County parks have made in the Ottawa Beach area since 2004, when the county approved a master plan for what was known as the “Park 12” area near Holland State Park. The county and Historic Ottawa Beach Society teamed up for a 300-thousand renovation of the pumphouse that included a new roof, stabilizing the foundation, repairs to the brick work and restoration of doors, windows and trim. The next step, according to Nancy Griffiths of the Historic Ottawa Beach Society, is a fundraising effort to make the society’s dream of a museum at the pumphouse a reality. She says it will take about a million dollars to make that happen. For more information on the pumphouse project, go to historicottawabeachsociety.org.
Griffiths says another one million dollars is needed to make the museum a reality. For more info on the fund drive, go to historicottawabeachsociety-dot-org.
-Greg Chandler
