GRAND HAVEN (WWJ) — With this Memorial Day weekend marking the unofficial start of the summer season in Michigan, a popular Lake Michigan tourist destination is rolling out a new high-tech beach warning system.
The Michigan DNR and city of Grand Haven on Monday held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Grand Haven State Park to unveil a new electronic beach safety notification system.
The new system features 12 electronic and web-enabled SwimSmart towers, which the DNR says demonstrates its “ongoing commitment to enhancing public safety and emergency response times at this popular state park.”
The well-known Grand Haven State Park — listed in Travel and Leisure’s top 25 beaches in the country earlier this year — is a hot spot for summer beach days, but DNR officials say “it is critical that visitors respect the strong, powerful waters of Lake Michigan and are aware of and prepared for rapidly changing conditions.”
The new warning system will feature 12 total towers — eight orange and four blue — throughout the beach area.
The eight orange towers, located on the beach, feature an “easy-to-understand” electronic light display similar to the familiar double-red, red, yellow and green flag warning systems previously used at the beach.
Life rings will also be stationed at each tower and when one of them is accessed to help someone in the water, 911 and park rangers will automatically be contacted. The DNR says the towers can play pre-recorded messages to alert users to changing conditions, emergencies and other important information.
The four blue light towers, located along the sidewalk, feature a readily accessible emergency phone that park staff and visitors can press to trigger an immediate emergency response. The blue light towers are equipped with a higher-power loudspeaker, video monitoring system and a direct line to the Ottawa County 911 center.
The loudspeaker system will work in conjunction with the prerecorded messages of the orange beach towers and allow park staff to broadcast live messages.
It’s all part of a $570,000 project that was made possible by a $200,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, according to the DNR. The balance was covered through DNR Parks and Recreation capital outlay funds.
The products were invented, developed and installed by Michigan-based SwimSmart, an innovative technology company whose products are created to “empower beachgoing families and patrons to make informed decisions when it comes to water recreation,” according to a press release.
The DNR will leave the current flagpoles in place but will only fly the flags if the new system goes down due to loss of electricity or other reasons.
More information on Michigan’s state-designed swim beaches, the beach flag warning system and how to safely swim in the Great Lakes can be found at Michigan.gov/BeachSafety.