Fishladder Park

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Est. 1974

Local sculptor Joseph Kinnebrew’s Grand River Sculpture was heralded as the “marriage of arts of environmental concerns” and allows people to engage with the fish run in an architecturally designed space.  Costing $90,000, many agencies, including the National Endowment of the Arts provided funding for the walk-upon sculpture.  In 1976, it was awarded the Michigan Week Community Achievement of the Year Award, the first ever for sculpture.

With the construction of Grand Rapids, Michigan's Sixth Street Dam the migratory population of salmon, steelhead, and even carp were suddenly unable to undertake their yearly upstream journey. The concrete fish ladder at Fish Ladder Park was created to give the swimmers a leg up, and provide visitors with a chance to see the leaping fish in action.

Built in 1974, the interactive public installation seems to have been created as much for those on land as those in the water. Designed by artist Joseph Kinnebrew, the installation lets the migrating fish travel up a winding set of concrete steps that are set up essentially as a low-grade waterfall. While the fish shimmy upstream, occasionally jumping out and over the water in short bursts, human onlookers can gather on the walkways and viewing points that have been built over and around the ladder to witness the weird behavior.

The fishermen and fisheries along the Grand River depend on the Sixth Street Dam to provide them with a steady supply of stock, so it is not likely going anywhere anytime soon. Which may be just as well as it would eliminate the spectacle of the jumping fish.

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Location

560 Front Ave. NW, Grand Rapids 49503  View Map

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Features

  • Accessible
  • Lake or River
  • Toilets
  • Walking Trails Paved
  • Water Fountains
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