Major improvements have been quietly under way at the Grand Marais Apartments in recent weeks. The improvements—a fire suppression sprinkler system, improved lighting, better exit doors and basic infrastructure upgrades—are not immediately visible but they have made the building a better place to live. Working together on the project has been (L-R) Caretaker Gene Arnold, General Contractor Dave Carlson, Project Supervisor Walt Salomaki, Grand Marais Apartments Board President Laurie Spry, Arrowhead Economic Development Authority representative Leah Hall, and Architect Kent Simon.
The need for senior housing has been a concern in Cook County since the 1970s. A group of Grand Marais citizens joined forces in 1974 to build an apartment complex for elderly North Shore residents in 1974. The Grand Marais Apartments are the result of their work—and the work continues today with another volunteer board overseeing renovations to the 40-yearold building.
Much has been done to the building in the last few months to make the apartment building safer and more livable. Most of the work is not immediately visible. Laurie Spry of Grand Marais joined the Grand Marais Apartment, Inc. (GMAI) board in 2009 and became board president in January 2010. Spry said the board realized the building desperately needed updating and set to work.
Spry said the GMAI took a close look at operations to trim costs and sought ways to raise money to meet the needs of the tenants. “We recognized we needed to work outside our comfort zone and dig in to get the job done,” said Spry.
Spry said she and the board spent many hours looking into how they could improve the GMAI situation, writing grants, asking for local help and, Spry said, “Just telling our story.”
Part of that story is recognition of the founders of GMAI. Dick Joynes, Janet Hansen, Amy Hussey, Ann Clark, Bill Mulligan, Stuart Jackson, Ralph Nelson, Rachel Helmerson, Helen Dalbec, Harry Lamson and Alma Olson were the incorporators. The original board of directors was Rachel Helmerson, Ken Ulmer, Roy Hedstrom, Janet Hansen, Alma Olson, Dick Joynes and Stuart Jackson.
Many of those folks are gone now, including Laurie Spry’s aunt Rachel Helmerson and grandfather Ralph Nelson. She was proud to join the board to follow in their footsteps.
However, working with USDA/ Rural Development wasn’t easy and funding was not being found. “One day, in total frustration, I sent out a blanket email to folks around the state looking for guidance,” said Spry. “This is when AEOA came into our lives.”
Spry said the first project completed with help from AEOA (Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency) was sorely needed weatherization of the building in 2010. That project did not cost anything for GMAI. That success gave GMAI the incentive to continue and other grants were sought. Leah Hall of AEOA wrote several grants for GMAI and guided Spry on writing others that had to be submitted by the entity involved. Spry took a grant writing class at Cook County Higher Education.
Spry said the GMAI board knew it would take some time to obtain money for improvements. However, Spry said, “Lo and behold, we started winning those grants! With support from the Cook County commissioners, the City of Grand Marais and the Cook County/ Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) we started looking at interviewing architectural firms and found one we have had great success with.”
GMAI is working with Miller Hanson Architects. As the building was inspected, Spry said the scope of work was so large that GMAI realized they needed to spread the process out over several phases. “Without AEOA and Miller Hanson Architects, we would never have been able to figure out how to even start!” said Spry.
After the weatherization, the next concern was safety. “That is why the fire alarm system, sprinkler system, improved lighting, better exit doors and basic infrastructure came first. These items are almost complete,” said Spry.
Watson-Forsberg of Minneapolis is the general contractor for the project. Dave Carlson and project supervisor Walt Salomaki; Miller Hanson Architect Kent Simon; Leah Hall of AEOA; GMAI caretaker Gene Arnold and Spry have had many, many meetings to find ways to meet tenant needs and to keep the project within budget.
Leah Hall said the cost of the rehabilitation work completed to date is $507,000. She said she was surprised at the amount of funding received to date. “This has moved pretty quickly. I think the big draw is the clientele. This building is important because it serves the elderly and the handicapped. It is important that people can age in place.”
This reporter sat in on a change order meeting where the contractor, architect and Hall and Spry spent much time hammering out things like replacement cabinet heights, closet door styles, and lighting. Whether or not the project should include threeway lighting (enabling elderly tenants to make it to their bed safely with light and then shutting it off from the bed) was discussed at length. It was finally decided three-way lighting was too important to leave out.
There was also a lot of discussion of how to complete all the work to be done without disturbing tenants. Caretaker Arnold said Watson-Forsberg has done an excellent job keeping residents informed about what is happening and trying to make them comfortable.
Because the apartment building is 40 years old, there was some complication. “We discovered some pretty major problems that needed fixing before we could do any further work,” said Spry.
Leah Hall said, “From the beginning, we heard, ‘The building isn’t square.’”
Spy said, “Thanks to the EDA for getting us the DEED [Department of Employment and Economic Development] funds that are allowing us to get much improved electrical service as well as dealing with a huge venting issue and insulation of the crawl space.”
There is much more that the GMAI board wants to do—the next phase will cost another $500,000. The two-story building limits the ability to handle a wheelchair bound tenant, but a few apartments have been modified to do so. Spry said, “Our dream is to make the entire building accessible, bright and a wonderful place to ‘age in place.’”
The apartments are low-income rentals for people of any age on social security. Spry said the GMAI core motto is to take care of the tenants to the best of its ability and to advocate for them to provide them a home they can take pride in.
GMAI could use help to reach the goal of completely rehabilitating the building, likely a three- to five-year project. Spry encouraged people to contact her at (218) 387-1828 if they would like to help the nonprofit. “We need new blood.”
But GMAI is pleased with the funds received and the work completed for tenants so far. Spry said, “All in all we are a success story.”
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