Blue waters sparkle in the afternoon sun. Sailboats catch gentle breezes. Cattails and other native wetland plants hug a shoreline ringed by recreational trails. Patient anglers cast for bass, bluegill, or pike.

This is not the Muskegon Lake that Kathy Evans once knew.

“I grew up in Muskegon, and I remember when this was an industrial shoreline, and it was smoky and smelly, and there were open-burning fires,” she said. “If you were in downtown Muskegon shopping, you wouldn’t even know there was a shoreline of a lake here – unless you or your parents worked in one of the factories.”

Evans, who has advocated for the lake’s revival since the 1980s, was on hand Wednesday, Oct. 1, to celebrate its official removal from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. She and other local supporters joined city, state, and federal officials at Muskegon’s Heritage Landing park to celebrate the delisting.