HOUGHTON — After funding delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project to build a new pier in downtown Houghton is back on.

Wednesday, the Houghton City Council committed a $951,600, 25% match for the project, which involves building a pier and improving parking between the Portage Lake Lift Bridge and Michigan Technological University’s Lakeshore Center. The rest of the $3.732 million cost comes from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. The MEDC had given the city a letter of interest in 2019, and the city had been ready to bid out the project the following March.

COVID intervened. The state then redirected the pier funding toward COVID relief. MEDC asked Houghton in November to update its proposal.

MEDC’s proposal takes into account the increased construction costs from 2020, and the money the city has already spent on design work, City Manager Eric Waara said.

The council thanked Waara for his persistence in the project.

“They’re going to grant us just short of $2.8 million for this relatively small contribution on our part,” said Councilor Mike Needham. “It is incredibly awesome that we are getting this.”

Houghton has put 25 years of work into again becoming a destination for boats and cruise ships, said Mayor Pro Tem Robert Megowen.

“This brings back old, old history of what happened,” he said. “The boats that used to come into Houghton, that’s where they parked, way back when … Great Lakes tourism is slowly but surely coming back, and we don’t have a port for it.”

Of the $951,600 city match, $526,175 will come from a general obligation bond in the general fund. A bond in place could have funded up to $800,000, but Waara said the city should not borrow more than it has to.

Another $175,140 comes from engineering fees so far. The rest comes from city funds from departments that will see improvements as a result: $50,285 from the TV franchise fund; $50,000 each from the general fund, local street and Downtown Development Authority funds; and $25,000 each from the parking and water funds.