South Haven to add 13 life jacket loaner stations at city beaches

Two new life jacket loaner stations were installed at South Haven beaches in August 2022. Thirteen more stations are being placed on the city's beaches in 2023. (Photo provided by Tom Renner)

SOUTH HAVEN, MI — South Haven will soon have life jacket loaner stations spread across all of its city beaches.

The city installed two stations in August 2022 — one at North Beach and South Beach — via a gift from Safe Kids Greater South Haven, which is a Bronson South Haven Hospital nonprofit.

Related: ‘Borrow a life jacket’ stations set up on Lake Michigan beach

This year, the city is planning to install 13 more stations, bringing the total to 15. The new ones are also a gift from Safe Kids Greater South Haven.

Once installed, there will be six stations on South Beach, five on North Beach and one each on the city's Woodman, Dyckman, Oak Street and Packard beaches.

The new stations, like those installed last year, will have life jackets of all sizes, from infant to oversized adult. Beachgoers are free to use them while at the beach, but return the jackets before they leave so others can use them.

Pam Ford, coordinator for Safe Kids Greater South Haven, said funding for the new boards is still being finalized. She is hopeful the boards will begin being placed on the city's beaches by the end of June.

Each board will initially have 20 jackets, with four each in infant size, child size, youth size, adult size and adult oversized. Bronson has pledged to review the inventory of each board three times per month during May, June, July, August and September and will donate up to 10 additional replacement jackets per board as needed, city officials said.

Exact locations and numbers of stations per beach were selected based on how busy each beach is, said Matt Dey, the city's beach safety and facilities superintendent.

Dey said stations will be located next to crosswalks so people can spot them when they enter the beach.

The city's beaches have been known for drownings in recent years, as four of Lake Michigan's 45 drownings in 2022 occurred in South Haven. Two of those took place in July at North Beach, when a 33-year-old Ohio man and 7-year-old boy from Texas drowned. In August, Kory Ernster, 22, of Novi, and Emily MacDonald, 19, of Columbus Township, drowned at South Beach.

Related: Couple who drowned in Lake Michigan ‘will be together forever,’ mother says

As a result of the drownings, some have urged city officials to bring back lifeguards for the first time in more than 20 years.

City Manager Kate Mosier told MLive previously that exhaustive discussions to bring lifeguards have taken place in the last couple years, but ultimately no decision to reinstall a lifeguard program was made.

The life jacket loaner stations are one many things the city is doing to increase beach safety, she said.

Others include:

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