Frontier Communications has installed the phones in weatherproof boxes that connect to Muskegon County’s central emergency line with the push of a single button.

State Rep. Hughes began working with the Muskegon County Parks and Recreation Division and Michigan Department of Natural Resources to get emergency phones installed after 18-year-old Iisaiah Townsel of Montague drowned last summer while swimming.

“I attended the funeral of Iisaiah, which just broke my heart to see someone so young be lost in such a tragic way. The cell phone coverage at the park is not reliable and that is why it was important to install emergency phones in Duck Lake State Park,” said Hughes, R-Montague. “I want to thank the DNR, Muskegon County Parks and Frontier Communications for working together and making the safety of area residents a priority.”

The phones have been placed along both beaches in the park, with one along the walkway near the Duck Lake side of the channel, and the other off Scenic Drive overlooking Lake Michigan.

Blue strobe lights to make the phones easily visible to visitors will soon be active as well. The Parks and Recreation Division also is working to set up a direct phone line to the park’s entrance booth in the near future.

“In the future, I would like to see cell phone coverage at the park in addition to the emergency phones,” Hughes said. “It has been suggested that the cell phone tower be called “Iisaiah’s tower.” I hope the local phone companies will help with that initiative especially after losing two young lives this past year.”