Just as Grand Rapids’ skyline continues to evolve, the river below is beginning a transformation of its own.
On July 1, the Grand River enters a new phase of work that will ultimately restore something older than the skyline itself: the rapids that gave the city its name.
Crews are now moving into the water between the Bridge Street and Fulton Street bridges to begin removing four low-head dams as part of the Grand River Restoration project. It’s a visible shift in a long-planned effort to reintroduce natural river conditions through the heart of downtown.
The timing reflects environmental requirements designed to protect fish spawning activity and prevent invasive sea lampreys from advancing upstream past the Sixth Street Dam.
Over the coming weeks, the Taplin Group—the City’s contractor for the lower reach—will build temporary causeways to move equipment through the river corridor and install a cofferdam to isolate a portion of Dam 2 for construction of a boulder arch feature. Additional in-river work will proceed in stages, shaped by flow conditions.
“This project is about more than removing dams,” said Mike Staal, river restoration project manager for the City of Grand Rapids. “It’s about restoring the connection between our community and the river that runs through it. We’re rebuilding natural features that support safety, habitat, and access—so future generations can experience the river in ways not possible for more than a century.”
Over the next two years, the four existing dams will be replaced with two channel-spanning structures designed to restore movement, variability, and energy to the river—conditions that once created the rapids that defined both the landscape and the city’s identity.
When complete, the lower reach will remove four low-head dams and replace them with naturalized structures including boulder arches, riffles, and habitat boulders, restoring nearly 2,900 feet of river corridor and 30 acres of habitat. The work is designed to improve fish passage, expand habitat diversity, and strengthen ecological resilience for species including lake sturgeon, river redhorse, and snuffbox mussel.
For Grand Rapids Whitewater, the moment carries a different kind of weight—less about construction timelines and more about a milestone long in the making.
“Seeing the first equipment enter the river today is an exciting experience and reflects an 18-year commitment from multiple community partners to restore the city’s namesake rapids,” said Matt Chapman, executive director of Grand Rapids Whitewater. “After years of waiting, the transformation of our river starts today.”
Together, the changes are expected to improve fish passage, increase habitat diversity, and strengthen the long-term resilience of the river through downtown.
But beyond ecology and engineering, the goal is more elemental: to bring the rapids back into the center of Grand Rapids itself.
If conditions allow, construction on the lower reach is expected to be complete by the end of 2027.
