“We’re always kind of in the trenches.”

That’s how Amanda Holmes, executive director of the Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS), describes the work her organization does to protect and maintain one of Leelanau County’s most popular – and most vulnerable – destinations.

For years, Fishtown has been beset on all sides by challenges, from high water that threatened the district’s buildings and infrastructure to the hefty expense that comes with maintaining any historic landmark. But thanks to generous support from the general public and some much-needed good luck with lake water levels, Fishtown has been able to tick many top priorities off its to-do list in the past two years. One of those projects, now underway, is a major rehabilitation of Fishtown’s retaining wall and entrance area (pictured), which Holmes says will lead to big gains for the safety and accessibility of the district come spring. In the midst of this “unromantic” but important project, the Leelanau Ticker sat down with Holmes to get a sense of where things stand for Fishtown as 2023 draws to a close.

A year ago, FPS found itself at the peak of a mountain, following the completion of a sprawling $5.5 million capital campaign that spanned years. That campaign had begun in 2017 as an effort to raise funds for a $1.7 million project, but evolved and grew as high water levels in Lake Michigan triggered new projects and spurred ever-mounting financial needs. Closing that chapter in 2022 was a big moment for Fishtown, but not the end of its struggles.

“The completion of the campaign did not mean ‘mission accomplished,’” Holmes tells the Leelanau Ticker, noting that Fishtown “is something that takes constant protection.” And while FPS had already navigated many of its biggest, most headline-grabbing projects before the sun went down on 2022, there were still projects left on the docket for 2023.

“It’s not quite as romantic as moving a building, but the project we’re doing now – the replacement of the retaining wall at the entrance to Fishtown – is something we’ve needed to do for years,” Holmes explains. “That wall has been sagging for ages, but the issue was accentuated a lot back in 2012 or so, when the Leland Harbor project was done and the road there was repaved. That had a dramatic impact on water runoff from West River Street. There’d always been water issues, but after that project, it was six times worse. When it would rain, there’d basically be six rivers flowing into Fishtown.”

Had Mother Nature played ball, the FPS might have replaced the retaining wall and mitigated the water runoff issues five years ago. “But then the high water on the river and the lake started to happen,” Holmes says. 

Wintertime visitors to Fishtown will notice that Team Elmer’s has already removed the old retaining wall and is installing sheet piling to stabilize the bank against future runoff. More than just replacing what’s there, though, Holmes says the project has offered an opportunity to implement “a design that will also meet all sorts of safety and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and road commission requirements with our entrance.” The entrance will be smoother and more even, without the same steep-sloping ramp visitors have long had to navigate.

Beyond the retaining wall, Holmes says FPS’s 2023 has also involved tackling important sewer improvements, completing work on the Otherside Shanty – a structure on the south side of the Leland River that FPS rents out as a short-term vacation rental – and more. FPS also raised more than $65,600 on Giving Tuesday, beating last year’s tally by nearly $10,000. The big number was thanks in part to Jim Ristine, who offered up a $20,000 match challenge “in honor of of his family heritage in Leland and Fishtown, and in memory of his wife, Mardi Black, who passed away in August 2022.” Inspired by Ristine, an anonymous donor put up another $5,000 match challenge, ensuring FPS a “dollar-for-dollar match for up to $25,000.”

Now Holmes is turning her attention to 2024, including restoration work on the two Fishtown shanties that had yet to get a makeover: the Ice House and the adjacent space that served as Fishtown’s welcome center throughout 2023. “Once those are done, we will have worked on all our shanties since the end of 2018,” Holmes says. FPS is also planning some sort of “public ribbon-cutting” next summer to mark the completion of the retaining wall and entrance project – which is slated to finish out in April or May.

As for a bigger celebration, FPS is holding out a little bit longer – for the moment when, maybe, Fishtown gets to climb out of the trenches and just be for a little while.

“The dream is that, in December of 2025, once we have all the shanties done and all these other projects are completed, we will light the shanty rooftops of Fishtown again,” Holmes says. “That was something we had done in the winter of 2018 and 2019 to celebrate paying off our mortgage and owning Fishtown through and through. We want to do that again, because by spring 2025, we expect to have all the big campaign projects wrapped up.”