The $120,000 gift will help fund final efforts around Munson Medical Center
Efforts to complete restoration of Kids Creek on the Munson Medical Center campus move forward this fall with help from a $120,000 grant from Consumers Energy Foundation.
Consumers Energy Senior Vice President David Mengebier and Consumers Energy Foundation Secretary/Treasurer Carolyn Bloodworth today visited the project site to present Munson Healthcare Foundations a check for the project.
“We are very grateful for the Consumers Energy Foundation’s willingness to partner with us on this project,” said Ed Ness, president and CEO of Munson Healthcare. “Their help ensures the plans to complete our creek restoration move forward.”
Previous restoration of the stream north of Sixth Street in partnership with The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay created a buffer for neighbors and has promoted a habitat for the return of insects and fish normally found in the environment. The Consumers Energy Foundation contributed $50,000 in 2013 for that phase of the restoration project.
Vice President of Facilities Steve Tongue said Consumers Energy Foundation’s grant allows for the final phase of the project in collaboration with the Watershed Center to restore natural channel function around the planned parking structure set for construction this fall.
“In order to eliminate erosion and deal with storm events we need to get the stream away from the current 90-degree turn in the ditch at the corner of Sixth and Elmwood streets and give it a more natural channel that will connect the stream to its floodplain,” he said. “This will allow sediment washing down the stream in flood events to drop out on the flood plain and prevent sediment loading in the stream.”
The restoration will create a more suitable habitat for aquatic insects which then will attract and sustain natural fish populations of brook trout and brown trout.
“Consumers Energy and our foundation have a 130-year history supporting our communities and the environment,” Mengebier said. “This is an ideal grant for our foundation because we are taking part in a successful collaboration with the community and an important customer in Munson Healthcare.”
Tongue said work on the creek with the Watershed Center’s help has already made a significant impact on water quality north of Sixth Street. “The Watershed Center has been critical in helping us reduce overall storm water impact on Kids Creek. Their partnership remains crucial to our efforts to manage and maintain the restoration project,” he said.
Once the final section of the creek is completed, no further large scale restoration will be needed. General maintenance and care will be performed by the hospital’s grounds staff and the Watershed Center.
"We are privileged to work with Munson Medical Center and Consumers Energy Foundation, who recognize both the environmental impact of this work and the benefit these spaces provide for patients and visitors as a calming, healing place," said Christine Crissman, executive director of The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay. "We're thrilled that this project will continue efforts to restore Kids Creek and improve the quality of the water running through our community."
For more information on the giving opportunities at Munson Healthcare, go to munsonhealthcare.org/foundations.