HOUGHTON — The Houghton City Council heard an update Wednesday on a $3.5 million project for renovations at Mattila Square in downtown Houghton, including a pier capable of handling cruise ships.

Houghton had initially pitched the project in 2017, and received an offer of funding from Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) in 2019. However, that was recalled in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MEDC approached the city with a new funding opportunity last fall.

“We had a public hearing previously with the other funding source,” City Manager Eric Waara said. “But given that this is a different funding source, it has to have its own hearing.”

The plan calls for creating a new pier, rerouting the waterfront trail around the north side of the Portage Lake District Library, and parking improvements. The snowmobile trail on the south side of the library cannot officially be changed, since it is a state right of way, Waara said.

“That’s something we cannot officially change, but we could possibly set the stage for where it would be inviting to take a different route,” he said.

Waara said the parking changes would result in the net loss of a few spots, as some spots are switched from nose-in to parallel parking. One of the goals is trying to improve traffic flow so that people using the waterfront trail wouldn’t have to cross two streets and a parking lot to use the trail, he said.

Work will include landscaping, seeding, mooring for large and small craft and marine utilities. There will also be a seasonal bandshell, built-in anchors for tents, lighting and water fountains.

“Future activities down there, I think the sky’s the limit: concerts, skating, the farmer’s market, the snowhouse, various festivals,” Waara said.

Cruise ships had not come to the area for about 10 years, Waara said. Asked about the potential for them to return, Waara said he had been in talks with multiple companies with large ships looking to come through the area. One ship in the 200-300 foot range could be accommodated there. Another was about 600 feet.

“This is just not big enough for that, but we have other space in town where they can dock,” he said.

Mayor Pro Tem Robert Megowen recalled a 2018 meeting with Pure Michigan with a presentation on the project.

“They were very excited about this project,” he said.

The project originally included extensive parking improvements, including a lower deck on the site of the current parking.

“As we got into the engineering on that, it wasn’t proving to be real practical, considering the lake had come up a couple of feet,” he said. “The height of that deck and what kind of construction it had to be just put it out of the ballpark, so they allowed us to pull it out.”

In response to a question from 5th & Elm Coffee House owner Frank Fiala, Waara said to his knowledge, the project was not required to go through site plan review at the Planning Commission. Fiala also asked Waara about comments from a July 2019 Planning Commission meeting, where Waara said there would be a public open house that fall with “a schematic for the public to see and comment on.”

“Well, we’ve having one now, Frank … and we had a public hearing as well, over a year ago,” Waara said.

Waara said bids for the project would be opened in April.

Resident Craig Waddell cited the city’s 1982 waterfront development plan, which suggested the city purchase the former Mineral Range Railroad depot, which it called “one of the most historically significant buildings in the city.” The Mattila Square building is now owned by U.P. Kids. Waara said the city might consider it, but that there had been no discussions.

MEDC would provide $2,780,400 of the $3,531,860 project. Some of Houghton’s $751,460 match includes design work from 2019 and 2020. Other money will come from bond proceeds and several city funds: general, Downtown Development Authority, street, parking and water.

More could be added as future grants or funds become available, Waara said, such as multiple fireplaces, public restrooms or an outdoor kitchen.