Published: August 24, 2009 07:28 am      

TC applies to be 'Coast Guard city'

Coast Guard has served the area for nearly 7 decades

TRAVERSE CITY -- Local officials intend to tout the U.S. Coast Guard's presence in Traverse City.

City commissioners this week applied to the Coast Guard's commandant, Adm. Thad Allen in Washington, D.C., to receive designation as a Coast Guard city. There are only nine such cities in the United States, including Grand Haven on Lake Michigan's shoreline, the nation's first Coast Guard city.

A city's special effort to acknowledge the Coast Guard is considered a major requirement for such a designation, said Cmdr. Jonathan Spaner, top officer at Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City. The community does that well, he said.

Coast Guard members receive military discounts at most local businesses, appreciation days at baseball games and a local ski facility, and heroes night at the National Cherry Festival. Traverse City Area Public Schools also held a panel just for Coast Guard families to discuss education options while they are stationed here, Spaner said.

"They add up to remarkable support for the Coast Guard and our veterans," Spaner said. "I think it makes a very compelling application."

There are about 150 active duty Coast Guard members in Traverse City and when combined with veterans and family members, they number more than 500. The air station opened in 1946 after the Coast Guard operated from the airport for five years.

Spaner said the greatest advantage of city designation would be to officially memorialize nearly seven decades of Coast Guard service to the community in the heart of the Great Lakes. Additionally, Traverse City could include Coast Guard insignia on signs and documents, he said.

Local Coast Guard members and their families are an integral part of Traverse City and earning such a designation would underscore that, said Mayor Michael Estes.

"This is something Traverse City can be proud of. People love the Coast Guard here," Estes said. "I think there's an added sense of security for our boating community. The Coast Guard is right here."

Grand Haven became the first Coast Guard city in November 1998. Others followed, including Eureka, Calif., Morgan City, La., Mobile, Ala., Wilmington, N.C., Newport, Ore., Alameda, Calif., Kodiak, Alaska; and Rockland, Maine.

A host of politicians, agencies and nonprofit organizations lined up to support Traverse City's application and more are expected, Spaner said.

Allen and other Coast Guard officials will review the application and if approved, forward it to Congress for final authorization.