The dam impounds a reservoir with a surface area of 4,000 acres (1,618 ha) and its power plant has an installed capacity of 31.5 MW.

[2] Construction was carried out under the direction of Edward M. Burd, the head of civil engineering for Commonwealth Power Corporation, a subsidiary of Consumers.

The dam and power plant are named for George E. Hardy, a financial partner with Anton Hodenpyl.

Hardy and Hodenpyl (who also had a dam named after him) oversaw the Commonwealth & Southern Corporation holding company that Consumers Energy, was part of from 1910 through the 1920s.

The listing notes the Spanish Colonial architecture of the powerplant buildings, including the oil house, intake, dormitory and powerhouse.

The complex includes a Spanish Colonial Revival-style powerhouse and intake tower, an oil house, and a dormitory.

The trail area is home to wild turkeys, grouse and bald eagles as well as beaver, mink and otter.

This causes wide fluctuations in water flows and reservoir levels, typically with low outflow during the night when power demand is lowest.

It can be drawn down up to 12 feet (4 m) to meet winter power demand but is required to return to normal levels by the end of April each spring.