page_title: Geddes Dam
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Geddes Dam / History
caption_attribution_description: Geddesburg (Ann Arbor) historic marker
context_page_description: The Geddes Dam is a decommissioned hydroelectric barrage dam crossing the Huron River. It is located in Ann Arbor Township in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It was built by the Detroit Edison Company in 1919 for hydroelectricity before being decommissioned in 1959. The dam is currently owned by the nearby city of Ann Arbor. The surrounding area is used for recreational purposes, including Gallup Park, which is Ann Arbor's most popular recreational area.
context_section_description: The first hydroelectric facility was built along this stretch of the Huron River in 1884.  Property along the Huron River was purchased by the Detroit Edison Company in 1905 for the purpose of building a hydroelectric dam.
  The dam was eventually built in 1919 as a series of hydroelectric dams built along the Huron River. The Geddes Dam was decommissioned in 1959 and no longer utilized for hydroelectric purposes. The dam was sold to the city of Ann Arbor in 1963. In 1968, the "heaviest storm in a generation" caused the Geddes Dam to fail, and increased water levels also severely damaged several downstream dams and caused considerable property damage.  The dam was rebuilt in 1971–1972, in which new automated gates were installed to control the water level of the reservoir. 
  The Detroit Edison Company once operated four hydroelectric dams that served Ann Arbor: Argo Dam, Barton Dam, Geddes Dam, and Superior Dam. At one time, they were all decommissioned in the late-1950s, but Barton Dam and Superior Dam were recommissioned in the 1980s and currently provide hydroelectricity for Ann Arbor's power grid. Geddes Dam and Argo Dam were left decommissioned, because higher cost estimates and lower energy production kept them from being recommended for recommissioning.  
  In 2010, a plan was proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to recommission the Argo and Geddes Dam in order to provide additional electric power to the nearby Ann Arbor VA Medical Center. A study found it would cost up to $14.7 million to construct new hydroelectric stations at both decommissioned dams. The transmission lines themselves would cost another $1.3 million, with at least $220,000 per year for maintenance. Funding was denied by the Ann Arbor City Council to go ahead with the project, but the proposal of completely removing the Geddes Dam was also not in financial consideration.  In 2013, the city approved a financial plan to improve the surrounded areas of both Argo Dam and Geddes Dam at a cost of $295,530 to a local contractor.  The dams received these significant improvements in 2014.
caption: Washtenaw County historic marker along the Geddes Dam reservoir
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