Despite June turning a cold, wet shoulder to the public, people flocked to the Grand Marais Recreation Park in record numbers, said park manager Dave Tersteeg to the park board on Wednesday, July 5.
“Revenue benefited from five Fridays in the month, and we finished at $185,839, up almost $23,000 versus 2016,” Tersteeg said.
Year-to-date revenue now stands at $425,959, an increase of $30,000 (7.5 percent) over 2016.
“Occupancy growth in May and June, combined with strategic rate adjustments have been the key drivers of revenue increases,” noted Tersteeg.
The park board approved two Special Event Applications. The first was for the Lions Club softball tournament held at the Rec Park ball field during Fisherman’s Picnic. The second request was for the 10th annual WTIP Radio Waves Music Festival held at the sliding hill near Sweetheart’s Bluff.
Park Board staff recently met with Gary Johnson, who works for the University of Minnesota Department of Forestry and Diane Booth, Cook County Community Center director and a master gardener to discuss planting trees throughout the town’s parks.
The city received a Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives-Community Forestry Engagement grant, which will be used to purchase 200 trees over the next 16 months. The goal is to work with groups and individuals and have the trees planted and maintained by volunteers.
Booth and Johnson reviewed the grant initiatives with the staff and conducted a site tour, identifying locations to plant trees, with an emphasis, said Tersteeg, on fortifying plantings in existing stormwater management systems. Two of those systems at the top of the list are the Community Connections corridor (path to the park from Highway 61 bike/walking path) and the creek that flows by the picnic pavilion.
During the meeting with the staff, there was a discussion about which native trees and shrubs do the best when growing close to Lake Superior and several were identified. Trees mentioned included white pine, white spruce, mountain ash, yellow birch, a variety of maples, and some ornamental shrubs like hazelnut, hawthorn, ironwood and honey locust. Shrubs recognized that would work included viburnum, bush honeysuckle, ninebark, dogwood and magho pine.
Further research on the types of nursery stock that will provide the best stormwater management while enhancing the beauty of the area will be conducted, Tersteeg said.
Once the plants have been picked out and purchased, plans are to begin planting in the fall.
Leave a Reply