MUSKEGON, Mich. — The City of Muskegon is using the present to honor the city's past and promote the future.
A new-empty plot of land along Lakeshore Drive will look much different in less than a year, boasting a 45-feet wide, 41-feet tall rusted ring.
Artist Lee Brown is calling it the PORTAL.
"The cross-section as, an isosceles triangle, and then it's just swept into this big circle," Brown explained to FOX 17 on Monday. "It looks like it just dropped out of the sky and planted itself.”
Helping plant the portal is Judith Hayner, project director with the Muskegon City Public Art Initiative (MCPAI), which began in 2018.
"[We] felt that, by adding 10 new works of monumentally scaled works of public art, we would really impact the community in a pretty significant way," Hayner said.
The initiative has seen the completion of seven installations so far. You might recognize some of them: Moxie the Mastodon outside the Lakeshore Museum Center, and the giant water drop outside the VanDyk Mortgage Convention Center downtown.
Hayner had high hopes for project number eight, with Brown tapped to take the lead.
"He buried the lead. This was the third one that he showed me," Hayner joked. "'Why didn't you just start with this one?'"
Brown explained the meaning behind this massive structure.
"I liked the symbol of continuity, you know," he said. "Moving from Muskegon's industrial past to whatever awesome thing the future holds.”
The location of the PORTAL plays into that symbolism as well.
In 1911, a new company called Sealed Power came to Muskegon. It made piston rings for Continental Motors, another Muskegon-based brand.
Sealed Power has since changed its name to SPX, and moved out of state in the late-1990s.
Now, the PORTAL will be placed on the property right in front of SPX's former headquarters and first plant.
It'll be made with 25 tons of Corten steel, and lined with LED lights.
Brown, a Muskegon local, put a little extra hometown pride into this one.
“Love what's happening in Muskegon, and just all the ideas that are hatched around here all the time," he said. "To be a part of that, and to do something, you know, positive and uplifting, it's a thrill for me.”
It's a thrill for everyone involved with the MCPAI as well. This will be their largest sculpture ever commissioned, and the costliest.
The budget is $316,272. MCPAI has raised about 75 percent of the funds so far, but would like some extra help getting across the finish line before they unveil the PORTAL in September 2024.
In a statement released on November 7, MCPAI said, "Gifts to the PORTAL Sculpture Fund may be sent to the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, 425 W. Western Ave., Muskegon MI 49440. Gifts of $1,000 or more will be recognized on signage at the site."
MCPAI is hoping this project will inspire the introduction of other amenities in that area.
"The City of Muskegon is also exploring the possibility of expanding the bike/pedestrian pathway to include a hard-surface trail up to and through the sculpture. In addition, Michigan’s Edge Adventure Bike Association is investigating the feasibility of developing an urban bike park in that area."