ST. IGNACE, MI (AP)-- Enbridge Energy Co. has donated $20,000 toward restoring a memorial to Jacques Marquette, a 17th century explorer and Jesuit missionary.
The Father Marquette National Memorial is located at Straits State Park in St. Ignace. Its museum was destroyed by fire in 2000.
Enbridge owns twin oil pipelines that run beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the nearly 5-mile-wide waterway linking Michigan's two peninsulas.
The company's donation will support planning for the west unit of the park. The project will be led by staffers with the Michigan Historical Center and the Department of Natural Resources' Parks and Recreation Division.
The goal is to develop the site in a way that honors Marquette and tells the story of first contacts between Native people and French explorers in the straits area.
