The beach at Pier Park closed on September 28 and the kayak launch closed the same day. What is left behind the fencing is a competition pool already finished, the walls of a recreation pool, and a bathhouse with its windows in and, as C&G Newspapers described it, a second floor.
Several features of that bathhouse are meant for the cold months and the shoulder seasons, when nobody is swimming. That makes this winter, with pool equipment going in and the Farms' holiday calendar running a short drive up Lake Shore Road at the War Memorial, the last off-season Pier Park spends as a summer-only place.
What is standing behind the fence right now
City Manager Shane Reeside gave the most detailed recent update at the August 17 City Council meeting. The council minutes record the project as "on schedule and on budget." By that meeting:
- The competition pool had already been finished.
- The recreation pool walls had been formed and poured.
- Gutter installation on the new pool was expected to begin that week.
- The bathhouse windows were in, the roof was "going on soon," and bricking was set to start the following week.
A month earlier, Grosse Pointe News reported that the tot pool and the pool mechanical building were still ahead, and that pool equipment installation was scheduled for winter. So the quiet season above ground is when the guts of the facility get built.
Money is still moving too. The October 12 council packet lists a September progress payment of $856,987.35 to Barton Malow for the pools and $616,185 for the bathhouse. For scale, the city's design page puts the total budget at $14,798,179, with $12,409,222 of that in construction costs.
The parts designed for the months without swimmers
Reeside walked through the bathhouse plan with C&G Newspapers in August. Several pieces point past the swim season.
A beach restroom with its own schedule. Alongside the men's, women's and family changing areas, the plan includes a separate restroom next to the beach. Reeside told C&G it "could remain open even when the pool is closed." That matters this year in particular, because the bathhouse restrooms and the beach stand-up shower are both listed as closed during construction.
A porch facing the harbor. A screened porch will run along the east side of the bathhouse, looking out over the beach and harbor. "It'll be a nice area to sit in the shade and take in Lake St. Clair," Reeside told C&G.
Air conditioning for the first time. Reeside said the system will help control dampness, which is a building-preservation reason as much as a comfort one.
A roof made to look familiar. The Blake Co. designed the new bathhouse. It also designed the Pier Park community building, and Reeside said keeping the same team means "a lot of consistency in the architecture." The cedar shake roof returns, this time in a more durable artificial material.
The water side was rethought around how families actually used the old one. The rebuild includes a competition pool with a diving board, a recreation pool with zero-depth entry, and a larger tot pool. The splash pad stays, on a smaller footprint. "We found with the prior setup, the tot pool was undersized and the splash pad was not as heavily utilized," Reeside told C&G. Parents will be able to watch the children's pool and the other pools at the same time.
What you can still use at Pier Park this winter
Even with half the park fenced off, a fair amount of it still works. The city's construction operations plan and pool FAQ divide it this way:
| Still operating | Closed during construction | Closed for the season since September 28 |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor space in the Community Building | Tot Lot playground | Beach access |
| Picnic shelter and general picnic areas | Bathhouse bathrooms | Kayaks and stand-up paddleboards |
| Pavilion, picnic and indoor rentals | Beach stand-up shower | Kayak launch |
| Marina | South parking lot |
The south lot closure is the one that changes how you arrive. Rentals and the marina carry on without construction limits, according to the FAQ. Questions go to the Parks and Recreation Department at (313) 343-2405.
Pier Park's events have already started working around the site. When the Autumn Harvest ran on October 10, organizer Lynn Roose told Grosse Pointe News that construction had moved the activities to the picnic area to keep children away from the work zone. That was also the year the petting zoo came back, which Roose said hadn't been part of the event "in a long time." Winterfest is still listed among Pier Park's annual events on the city's special events page, but no 2027 date has been posted.
Where the season goes in the meantime
With the beach closed and the pool deck fenced, most of the Farms' public calendar between now and the new year sits at the War Memorial at 32 Lake Shore Road. Several of these events need registration or tickets, and the popular seatings tend to fill well before the date.
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, Nov. 9 | Author Talk: Bonnie Jo Campbell | 7 to 8:30 p.m.; $35 general admission or $55 meet-and-greet, plus a $3 ticket fee |
| Sunday, Nov. 22 | Tree Lighting Ceremony | 4 to 7 p.m., tree lit at 5:30 p.m.; free with registration; Santa visits $5 per child |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 and Thursday, Dec. 10 | Bedtime Stories with Santa | Seatings at 4, 5:30 and 7 p.m.; $25 per child, $5 per adult |
| Sunday, Dec. 13 | Breakfast with Santa | Seatings at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.; $50 per child, $70 per adult, tax and gratuity included |
For the tree lighting, the War Memorial says parking is available on site with overflow on the street, but it is limited. Walking over or getting dropped off is the easy way to make the 5:30 lighting.
If dinner comes before or after any of these, The Hill has a corner that wasn't there last winter. Grosse Pointe News reported in July that Tavola Mia is open at 123 Kercheval, serving Italian brunch and dinner with handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza and Mediterranean seafood. The address is the former Bronze Door site, as WhatNow Detroit reported in March.
How the rebuild is being paid for
The way the project is financed also explains why construction keeps going through the cold months. The Grosse Pointe Farms Foundation, the city's nonprofit arm, gave $4 million, and general obligation bonds cover the rest. Reeside told C&G the city held off on the project until older debt for the Pier Park community building and the harbor expansion came off the books. There is no special millage. "We're basically just trading debt, with a similar payment schedule" of about 20 to 25 years, he said.
Neighbors chipped in on a smaller scale. The Foundation's commemorative brick paver campaign has closed after about 170 bricks were bought, raising more than $100,000 for the aquatic project. Those bricks will pave the path to the new pool. In August, Reeside told C&G there were "still opportunities for donations for elements of the project."
The stretch between now and Memorial Day
This past summer, Farms swimmers went to parks in Grosse Pointe Woods and Grosse Pointe Park instead. Swim team home meets were held at the opposing team's pool, with Farms coaches and staff running them. The city wants that to be a one-season arrangement. "The goal is to be open next Memorial Day weekend," Parks and Recreation Director Chris Galatis told C&G. The same article says officials are aiming for the start of the 2027 swim season and notes that weather and unexpected snags can shift construction schedules.
That puts roughly seven months between this week and the target. Here is the order of work, based on the city's and Grosse Pointe News' reporting:
- Bathhouse roof and brick, which the August minutes described as next.
- The tot pool and the pool mechanical building, both still ahead as of July.
- Pool equipment installation, scheduled for winter.
- Opening, targeted for Memorial Day weekend 2027.
The progress payments in each month's council packet are the clearest public record of the work as it moves. For updates, the city points residents to its website and email alerts, and it keeps a construction updates page for the project.
If you're curious how a Farms project like this can shape the streets around it, Megan Ford follows these changes closely and is happy to talk through what she's seeing in your part of the Pointes. Let's Connect.
