The Fishtown Preservation Society is working hard in Ann Arbor owned by a Leelanau County native to determine how much work is needed to shore up the piers and buildings that collectively have been referred to for decades as Fishtown. Craig Miller, a retired labor attorney who has been instrumental in forming a non-profit group, said that the main aim of the project is to keep Fishtown as it is.
He told that the group wanted to maintain Fishtown by keeping it as a real-life place in history. He further said that the Fishtown Preservation Society has no desire to create a “Disneyland” attraction. And for this the society has hired a designed company partially through a state Coastal Management Zone grant to evaluate the substructure of Fishtown, and make suggestions for the future. Hired was the design firm of JJR, L.L.C, which is owned by county-born Douglas Denison who grew up fishing in the Leland River.
According to Miller the group has a steady flow of rental income to help, as all four charter boats and 12 retail businesses renting space in Fishtown stayed on after the sale. All have located in Fishtown for at least five years. He told that the society wants to be more than a landlord. One priority: to keep commercial fishing.
According to Miller throughout changes that may come to Fishtown, Miller said the society would invite — and listen to — input from local governments and community members.
