Olson Park - Algoma

Olson Park is a small peninsula located on the Ahnapee River estuary.  The City and stakeholders want to preserve and enhance wetland and upland habitats and improve public access at the Park. The Park property is mostly comprised of a gravel lot which is currently used as the City’s snow disposal site during the winter season.

The City of Algoma (City) is proposing a plan for re-development of Olson Park (Park) to facilitate beneficial use and access to public lands, waters, and recreational amenities for Algoma residents and visitors, to enhance shoreline habitats in the park for native species, and reduce impacts to water quality from stormwater runoff and winter snow disposal to the Ahnapee River and Lake Michigan.The City’s woodlands, wetlands, shorelines, and waterways provide habitat for many species of wildlife. The City’s plan is to incorporate green infrastructure approaches into the Olson Park site plan, to improve stormwater management and reduce sediment inputs into the adjacent Ahnapee River.

The City, with the assistance of Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) and Friends of Crescent Beach (FOCB), proposes to develop a Green Infrastructure plan focusing on conservation, recreation and sustainability. Green infrastructure techniques will be used as a strategy to reduce runoff and improve water quality in the lower Ahnapee River. As part of a City-wide effort to improve the park properties, the initial phase for Olson Park is to relocate the current snow disposal site to a new disposal area reducing associated contaminants (road salt, sand, litter, and automotive pollutants) discharging directly to the Ahnapee River. Relocating the snow disposal site would allow for the City to proceed with green infrastructure planning for Olson Park.