Eye Candy of the Week: Brenke Fish Ladder

216 E. Cesar Chavez St., Lansing

The Brenke Fish Ladder is found in Burchard Park along the Lansing River Trail near Old Town. The ladder itself was constructed in 1981 as part of a series of fish ladders, or step-like pools, to help salmon and trout travel from Lake Michigan upstream to the Moore’s Park Dam in Lansing. The Brenke Fish Ladder has appeared in the Eye Candy column before (10/7/15), yet its design is worthy of another mention here. As you can see in the photo, the design of the structure around the fish ladder includes wide, multi-sided steps which cascade down from the river trail to an observation platform. Along the railing appear a series of two-steps. These mimic the graduated steps of the fish ladder in the water. It is a unique design that fits its location in a visually appealing way. Other fish ladders are not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as this one. Indeed, the Brenke Fish Ladder is slightly reminiscent of Robson Square in Vancouver, a “stramp” that includes wide concrete steps interspersed with ramps for wheelchair users. Robson Square was begun in 1979 and thus is from a similar era as Brenke. While there are now concerns about the actual accessibility provided by the Robson Square stramp, it has won multiple awards for its design.

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