A large excavator at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk made moving boulders that weigh up to 5 tons apiece look effortless, but the effort, a partnership between the city of Portage and the National Park Service, is an important one to shore up the park and prevent future damage from the force of Lake Michigan.

“Frankly, this wouldn’t be happening without the city,” Paul Labovitz, superintendent of Indiana Dunes National Park, said Monday as the large excavator and a smaller one, both provided by the city, moved just-delivered boulders for placement along the lakeshore.

The city’s redevelopment commission allocated around $93,000 to purchase the boulders and the city is providing the labor and large equipment to make the work possible, said A.J. Monroe, director of planning and community development for the city.

The park service, Labovitz said, chipped in another $11,000 or so for the boulders, which are being delivered from Monon, about an hour and a half away, but was limited by the federal government’s ability to contract for the work in a timely fashion.

Portage employees and equipment, Labovitz said, doubled the value of the city’s contribution to the project.

“I know good things happen when you form partnerships and we had to partner to get this done,” Portage Mayor Sue Lynch said, adding the park is “a beautiful thing. It just needs to be stabilized.”

Lynch, like Labovitz, is amazed at how much the lake level has dropped but also sees the need to accomplish the project now.

“I think it’s a great, opportune time and I’m glad the city can help,” she said. “We are a city with a national park.”

The Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk opened in 2008 and is a partnership between the city and the National Park Service. The $10 million facility was built with money from the Regional Development Authority.

Erosion from a growing number of intense storms and rising lake levels have battered the park over the past few years, destroying a handicapped accessible walkway, a viewing platform and broaching a dune that protected the glass-fronted pavilion at the site, among other damage.

After growing concerns about erosion and frustration about finding the funds to replenish the quickly depleting beach, the National Park Service reallocated $450,000 from other nearby projects for beach nourishment, which took place last fall.

Lake levels are ebbing once again, Labovitz said, adding that in the past, efforts to protect the park and the pavilion lost their urgency as the water receded, only moving to the forefront when Lake Michigan rose later.

“We know it’s going to come back,” he said, adding he and Monroe “have a long view. This is a public resource and we’re going to do it right now.”

The boulders are being placed at the edge of the water and along what’s left of the dune protecting the pavilion. The national park is working with two engineering students from Purdue University Northwest to come up with a solution for installing another handicapped accessible walkway.

“What this does in the short term is protect the investment but it also allows us to determine access again,” Monroe said, adding the loss of the walkway meant the loss of one of the four tenets of the Marquette Plan, which is public access for all.

“This is just the first step in that, in getting us back to where we used to be.”

In all, around 800 tons of boulders are being delivered to the Portage location between now and May 24. Officials hope to have the work complete before Memorial Day weekend. The Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk is closed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays so the work can be done safely.

Much of the area will reopen to the public at 4 p.m. on weekdays and remain open until normal closing time at 11 p.m.

Weekend operations at the park are not affected and the site’s food vendor, Trail Stop, is open on weekends and after 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays.

Visitors should check the park’s Facebook page or call the information desk at 219-395-1882 to learn about updates.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.