A crew of workers spent the better part of December replacing the Grand Marais Municipal Pool roof and fixing interior walls damaged by a late October storm. The storm knocked over lots of trees in town and tipped over picnic tables and other smaller items, but the pool roof suffered the most damage.
“We’re open!” Grand Marais Municipal Pool Head Lifeguard Charles Christiansen told the park board on January 4, 2011. “The pool temp is 53!”
To celebrate the reopening of the pool after a late October storm blew off much of the roof and damaged interior walls, an all-day Big Splash Pool Party with refreshments and free admission will be held Wednesday, January 19. Park Manager Dave Tersteeg is thinking of providing coffee, doughnuts, and polka music during the adult swim from 8 to 11 a.m. and punch and pretzels during the open swim from 1 to 9 p.m. “It’s really going to be a fun day for all,” Tersteeg said.
Tersteeg said they were lucky to get what appeared to be some strange wave action in Lake Superior when they refilled the pool, because the water that they pumped in was 42 degrees, considerably warmer than the 37 degrees posted by the Minnesota Sea Grant on January 4. This will give the pool a leg up on getting to the 83 degrees it needs to be before Christiansen will restart swimming lessons.
Contractors repairing the roof and replacing the entire western interior wall finished December 28. Tersteeg complimented the staff for doing a great job cleaning everything up and performing the annual maintenance that is usually done in the spring. “The Department of Health has visited,” Tersteeg said. “They’re impressed.”
Memberships that could not be used during November and December will be extended two months. Christiansen expects the pool’s 2010 income to be similar to its 2009 income, with insurance compensating for the loss of revenue when the pool was closed.
Park board member Bill Lenz asked if there have been any problems with the backup boiler, which is heating the facility after the main boiler quit functioning. “Yes!” Tersteeg answered, explaining that they had run out of propane because it had not been delivered on time.
“It was cold there this morning,” Christiansen said.
Tersteeg said he was working to make sure the facility would not run out of propane again. “It can’t happen again,” he said. “That’s for sure.”
Successful year for rec park
The tourist park made $995 in December, just $25 less than what it made in December of 2009. “The year was a great year,” Tersteeg declared. Revenue was up 4 percent over 2009.
All of the sites except for a couple of RV and tent sites were booked for Fisherman’s Picnic by 2:00 p.m. on Monday, January 3, the first day the park office took reservations for the upcoming camping season. Tersteeg reported that many people from many states have booked full weeks throughout the summer.
Theboardvotedtogivea3percent discount for five-month seasonal rentals paid in full by June 1, the same discount seasonal marina renters will receive for paying in full by that date.
The Minnesota Land Trust has given the park a “clean bill of health” for maintaining the standards required by its conservation easement. The park was inspected in July, and Tersteeg recently received a letter reporting on the findings.
Public arts commission
Bill Lenz, the city council representative on the park board, said a group of people has expressed an interest in forming a committee to be in charge of approving any public art that is proposed for city property. The proposal was made after a group of citizens volunteered to pay for a flagpole to be erected in Harbor Park in memory of Dick Joynes. Some members of the former Harbor Park Committee had opposed the idea. “I would not mind having them review things going into that park,” Lenz said, “but I would not want them viewing anything that goes to the rest of the parks.”
Todd Miller said he would want the group to make a proposal to the park board before they do anything about it.
This town is too small to need such a committee, Robin DuChien said.
Walt Mianowski said he believes the park board should be in charge of the parks, although he acknowledged that the park board is under the authority of the city council.
The board decided not to do anything about the suggestion for now.
Power to the Nee Gee
The board passed a motion to split the cost of reinstalling power to the Nee Gee, the historic fishing boat next to the re-created fish house in the marina. A storm two years ago damaged the power pole that had been there, and conduit between the boat and the pole was not reinstalled when the pole was replaced.
Electricity to the boat area will allow power tools to be used to finish restoration of the boat and lighting to be installed inside. Cook County Historical Society member Leonard Sobanja arranged to have shop students build steps that will allow visitors to view the inside of the boat.
Park board member Todd Miller has helped with the restoration and made reference to the hardships of commercial fishing. “It is interesting to look in there. It’s really kind of grim,” he said. “I think it’s good what you’re doing,” he told Sobanja, who was at the meeting to request permission to restore power to the boat area. “I really do believe we need to preserve the commercial fishing heritage of the harbor.”
Ice sculptures in Harbor Park
Maggie Barnard of the Cook County Visitors’ Bureau made a courtesy call to the park board to request staff help setting up ice blocks to be sculpted in Harbor Park during Winter Fest February 1-4. The city council had already approved the event, but Barnard was asked to get approval from the park board as well.
The board has expressed a desire to not be left out of the loop regarding events that will impact the city’s parks. The board passed a motion approving the event and staff time to be devoted to it.
Seaweed in de-icers
Tersteeg noted that seaweed had gotten tangled in the marina de-icers over the weekend. He wondered if a seiche – a sudden and drastic drop in water level in a portion of the lake due to high winds or barometric pressure – had caused the deicers to drop down to where the seaweed normally lies. The de-icers are checked daily.
Park board members needed
The seven-member park board is down to four or possibly five members. Carol Backlund’s term is up and she will not be sitting for another term. Paul Anderson is reportedly willing to sit for another term but had not applied as of the January park board meeting.
The board talked about how hard it is to get people to serve on volunteer boards. One park board member, a retiree who will remain anonymous, said, “All my friends are old people, and they stay home and watch TV. …I’m not going to live forever, but I’ll be here ‘til I go.” He was in a hurry to get the meeting over with so he could get up to the basketball game where he would work the concession stand.
Leave a Reply