(WWJ) - The Upper Peninsula is sprucing up just as the Great Lakes cruise season kicks off with a newly constructed multi-million dollar pier and additional cities added as ports of call.
The City of Houghton opened the pier along the Keweenaw Waterway, between the Portage Lake District Library and the Michigan Tech Lakeshore Center, in the fall of 2022, but it will welcome its first cruise ship this month.
Officials said the new pier will create "a year-round gathering space along the waterfront in the middle of downtown Houghton" that also serves as a city square and event space.
The pier is a state-backed Placemaking Project that received $4 million in funding from the Michigan Strategic Fund while the city contributed $1 million towards its construction.
The upcoming cruise season is predicted to be record-breaking with nearly a dozen ships making hundreds of stops at Michigan ports -- including Houghton.
Houghton City Manager Eric Waara said via Mlive that the pier will welcome its first ship, the American Queen Voyages' Ocean Navigator, on June 8. It will then return on a few days later on June 12.
The ship's two visits in June are the only cruise stops the small U.P. city is expecting this year. Officials said the Viking Octantis stopped last year, but they hope more ships will come to the Keweenaw Peninsula, especially with the addition of the new pier.
“The visitor economy is very important here,” he said. “It’s not necessarily getting the cruise ship here, it’s getting that exposure for the passengers who come ashore. Everyone who came (last year) had a great time, loved the area and said they’d love to come back here.”
According to American Queen Voyages, the 286-foot, five-deck Ocean Navigator will stop at Houghton while on a 16-day roundtrip voyage on its Chicago itinerary. The cruise ship can hold 202 guests and costs $8,500 per passenger.
Officials said 11 ships from eight different cruise lines will travel around the Great Lakes during the season, which runs from May to October. Roughly 170,000 passengers will visit Michigan ports with the economic impact estimated at $180 million.
The ships also call on ports in Alpena, Detroit, Mackinac Island, Marquette and Muskegon.
Escanaba will welcome its first ever cruise ship when the Ocean Navigator calls on its North Shore Dock this Sunday, May 14.