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North House Folk School’s request to purchase the leased land the main campus resides on was turned down by the Grand Marais City Council.
The city council met in a closed session on Wednesday, July 27 and the following day released this statement, “The City Council has decided not to move forward with a North House Folk School request to purchase the City owned property that North House leases for a portion of their campus. “The Council seeks to continue the partnership with North house and will resume discussion of the relationship on a future Council agenda.”
Under the current terms, North House leases .83 acers of lake shore property from the city for 25 years at a time at a cost of $390 per month. There is currently six years remaining on the current lease, which automatically renews for 25-years when it is up. The .83 acers are currently valued at just over $1.2 million and at a previous city council meeting representatives of the school said they were looking to pay that.
North House Executive Director Greg Wright has told the city council North House is seeking to add classroom space. At a previous meeting representatives of the school asked for a variance to build a 2,400 square foot classroom on the shore of Lake Superior on property that had been purchased in February 2018 from Harley and Shele Toftey. That land is adjacent to the city leased land.
That variance was denied, but as North House Director Greg Wright said at the time, the need to expand classroom space has not gone away.
When money was discussed two meetings ago, especially the $1.2 million (or more) price tag, the council pointed out that this deal was more than just about money. It was about the future of the harbor property and what might become of it if the city lost its hold on the land.
When contacted about the decision, North House Folk School replied, “North House thanks the Council for promptly taking this proposal into consideration and engaging the community in this important conversation,” North House’s Executive Director, Greg Wright shared following the announcement. “We have been clear throughout this process that North House’s goal is to find a way forward in partnership with the community and the City. We look forward to the next steps in the discussion.”
North House’s proposal to purchase the lot currently leased from the City also included efforts to expand public parking, increase harbor access, restore the Scott Fish House, and extend a long-term lease to North Superior Fishery on the dock they utilize for their operations. “We have worked hard over the past several months to listen to the community, sort through options and shape ideas that will work. We know a potential purchase was only one of several different strategies for defining a future building site for replacing our two no-longer-functional classrooms. Our need for this space has not gone away, nor have these other important community needs,” Wright added, “A purchase would have been one way to do that, but we will continue listening and applying creative energy to find solutions that benefit the community.”
Even as the City Council and North House engage in these discussions regarding next steps, the current lease agreement between North House and the City remains in effect. Presently, six years remain in the lease, which renews automatically for another 25 years based upon key metrics. “We met all of the metrics in 2019,” noted Wright, “but of course the pandemic made an impact. After almost twenty years, we understand there are parts of the lease that can be improved upon. We believe engaging these ideas with the City will be a key part of moving forward.”
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