Former president George W. Bush will make what is being billed as his first domestic post-presidency speech to the Economic Development Club of Southwestern Michigan in Benton Harbor on May 28.

The economic development club was founded in 1943 by Lewis Upton who also founded the Whirlpool Corp. 

Benton Harbor is home to a long-simmering controversy over plans to build a private golf course in the city’s lakefront park. Last year, after heavy lobbying from local Republican congressman Fred Upton, the National Park Service approved a plan to swap public lakefront and dune property for a series of inland parcels that are contaminated with industrial waste. In an ongoing federal suit locals are suing to reverse federal and state approval of the project.