Carronde Park Fishing Platforms

Grant: # 1996

Grant Amount: $200,000.00

Board Decision Year: 2022

St. Joseph Charter Township - Township Manager (St. Joseph)

Township Manager

Cook, Denise ([email protected])

2022 Access to the Great Lakes Fishery - Access to the Great Lakes Fishery

Project Details

SYNOPSIS

Project Title: Carronde Park Fishing Platforms

Grantee Organization: St. Joseph Charter Township

Project Team: Denise Cook, Township Supervisor David Rindfield, Public Works Supervisor Abonmarche Consultants, Engineering and Grant Services Anlaan Corporation,

Project Construction Contact Person: Denise Cook, Township Supervisor, [email protected] David Rindfield, Public Works Supervisor, [email protected] Joelle Regovich, Abonmarche Consultants, [email protected] Grant Amount: $200,000

Time Frame: January 2023 to October 2023

Focus Area: Access to the Great Lakes Fishery

Brief Project Summary: The project significantly increases access to St. Joseph River shoreline fishing through construction of two ADA accessible fishing platforms, sidewalks from the roadway to the fishing platforms, ADA parking spaces that connect to the sidewalks, benches, picnic tables and educational fishing signage.

PROJECT IN CONTEXT

Carronde Park is a St. Joseph Charter Township public park located on the St. Joseph River, about 4.3 miles upstream from Lake Michigan. There are no barriers to fish passage between the park and Lake Michigan. The park provides 1000 feet of St. Joseph River shoreline. The park can be easily accessed by I-94 and M-139. The park provides boating access via a DNR boat launch with hard-surfaced ramp and two skid piers. Very few locations for public fishing are available downstream of Carronde Park to Lake Michigan, as much of the river’s shoreline is held privately. Carronde Park’s river frontage offers excellent spots for casting and netting fish. The bend in the St. Joseph River at this location houses good holes that provide habitat to a variety of fish including Michigan strain steelhead, Skamania strain steelhead, Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Brown Trout. The St. Joseph River is a warmwater stream and a MDNR Type 3 Trout Trail. Providing an accommodating, high value fishing site at this easily accessed location can significantly increase visits and imbue a love for the pastime in a younger population that spawns the next generations of anglers. GOALS OF THE EFFORT Goals of the project included: • Increased access to the St. Joseph River for anglers • Increased ADA access to the river shoreline for all persons RESULTS The results of the project included the construction of two 16’ x 24’ ADA accessible fishing platforms along the St. Joseph River. New six foot wide accessible sidewalks connect the shoreline to existing pavilions and parking, including 4 new ADA parking spaces. Benches and tables are placed along the walkway to support users.

 

PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES

The local newspaper, the Herald Palladium, reported on the project multiple times. https://www.heraldpalladium.com/communities/st_joseph/township-manager-gets-her-first-lookat-carronde-park-improvements/article_b46ac4be-c8f7-5fe5-af59-4253dcd4e59f.html https://www.heraldpalladium.com/communities/st_joseph/st-joseph-township-secures-anothergrant-for-carronde-park/article_e62a0085-378b-5118-9af5-47944d959322.html