West Michigan Whitecaps Will Change Their Name

The West Michigan Whitecaps will change their name...temporarily. They announced the new identity in order to bring awareness towards restoration of the Grand River. The West Michigan Whitecaps will become the Grand Rapids Dam Breakers in August.

The Dam Breakers will be a limited edition name. The team will use the alias for only one game on Saturday, August 21, at 7:05 p.m.

The baseball teams name change was created to bring awareness to the Grand River restoration project. According to grandrapidswhitewater.org, the restoration project is tasked with

"Bringing the rapids back to the Grand River in a safe and environmentally-responsible way requires careful planning and execution. Working closely with community partners, government agencies and river development experts, we looked at how we could remove the dams, revitalize the water flow and reimagine the river."

On the lower reach, the plan includes installing new rocks and boulders from Bridge Street to Fulton Street. The goal is to remove four low-had dams to restore and improve aquatic habitat diversity and enhance recreation opportunities in the Grand River.

On the upper reach, from Ann Street to Bridge Street, this portion of the project ensures invasive species controls while removing a fifth low-head dam and revealing a portion of currently-submerged limestone bedrock.

The Anderson Economic Group projects the restoration will entice more than 500,000 people each year to visit Grand Rapids which translates to almost $19 million in net economic impact for the city and 80-100 new jobs.

The Whitecaps organization plans to give some of the proceeds of all Grand Rapids Dam Breakers merchandise over to the Whitewater project. You can purchase Dam Breakers merchandise here.