How It All Started : The Birth of the Boardwalk

The rumblings of a project that would revolutionize the Crescent Beach shoreline began in its earliest dreaming among members of the Community Improvement of Algoma (CI of A) and interested citizens of Algoma. According to the June 20, 1996 Algoma Record Herald, CI of A Member and eventual Boardwalk Community Committee Chairperson, Paula Levy, “remembers the origins of the boardwalk when citizens held a brainstorming session to come up with ideas to help promote the city.”

The inspiration for the boardwalk came from a project that Levy’s husband, Tom, worked on the coastline of Grand Haven, Michigan. It was a large boardwalk that stretch the length of the beach and after moving to Algoma, Levy felt the city could benefit from such an attraction. Ann Schmitz, fellow CI of A member, recalls that Gerald “Jag” Hagele was also instrumental in developing and promoting the idea of a boardwalk. Schmitz also credits Levy for her tireless pursuit of the project, that Paula is “a pusher…always in the back pushing…saying ‘come on, we can do this!’ and would help get things done.”

Eventually the CI of A approached city manager Tom Romdenne and the search for support began. Levy, Alderperson Jim Schwedler, and Ann Schmitz first presented the idea to the Algoma City Council in April 1993, where the council decided by a 6-2 vote to apply for a Wisconsin Coastal Management Association grant.  Engineer Jim Polzin, who also did work on the Algoma Chamber and Marina buildings, signed on and the project took flight.

The City of Algoma created the Community Committee, to further the project. Meetings were held at the Algoma Chamber, City Hall, and Hotel Stebbins.