With the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) starting to move toward installing a new boat launch and parking lot in the Grand Marais Recreation Area, the Grand Marais Park Board is faced with finding an alternative location for the events pavilion outlined in its Master Plan.
On August 7, 2012, the park board discussed an alternative to the area around the city garages that had been designated for an events pavilion. Park Manager Dave Tersteeg has said that the DNR told him the land adjacent to the southwest corner of the harbor would not have enough parking area for both a boat launch and an events pavilion.
Park board member Paul Anderson suggested designating a portion of the Coast Guard parking lot for an events pavilion.
“I would rather have it in Boulder Park,” said City Councilor and park board member Bill Lenz. Boulder Park is just north of the Coast Guard parking lot, across from Sydney’s Frozen Custard. Manager Tersteeg said he didn’t think the land trust the city is obligated to would go for that location.
Paul Anderson observed that Boulder Park would afford views of both sunrises and sunsets. And it’s close to area businesses, said board chair Walt Mianowski.
They could also consider putting an events pavilion on the old ski hill, Anderson said. Park board member Tracy Benson said she thought people would expect a building on the lake.
Grand Marais does not have a building that can handle a wedding of over 100 people, Office Manager Samantha Williams said.
If an events pavilion is so needed, asked Benson, why doesn’t a business come along and build one? Bill Lenz said a lot of people want a building like this but don’t want to pay for it.
Anderson said he said he knew of a situation where someone asked a city to put up a building that could be used as a grocery store. The city agreed to do it as long as the business got an insurance policy that would guarantee lease payments for 20 years, so the business did. Picking a spot does not mean the city would build an events pavilion anytime soon, he said.
The board unanimously voted to designate the area near the boat launch by the Coast Guard station as a location for a future events pavilion.
Community Connections project
The Grand Marais Parks Department did not get a DNR Local Trail Connections Program grant that Manager Dave Tersteeg applied for, but money for the Community Connections trail leading from Highway 61 down to the marina on the east end of the Recreation Area could come from the park’s capital improvement budget nevertheless.
“This one was a shoo-in, I thought,” said Tersteeg of the grant application. He applied for the grant he thought the park was most likely to receive. He reported that the program received requests for $4 million but had only $1 million to give out.
Most of the DNR’s Local Trail Connections Program grants are targeted toward the Metro counties, Tersteeg said. They could apply for the next round of funding, he said, but that would delay the project for another year.
“I think we should move forward,” said Bill Lenz. “How many years have we been talking about this?”
Park board member Paul Anderson suggested that they go ahead with the project with the money that is in the budget and then apply in the next round of funding for a lakeshore boardwalk to connect to the trail.
The board voted to proceed with the project. It will include storm water management along with a scenic trail leading down toward the water.
Bill Lenz reported that the city settled with Burbach Aquatics over a contract obligating the city to use Burbach’s services should it renovate the pool or build a new one. Burbach threatened to pursue litigation if the city became involved in the community center/pool facility the county is planning.
Lenz said the city would have paid at least $50,000 to go through with a lawsuit challenging Burbach’s insistence that the contract applied to this project. “I think it was a good idea to spend the money,” he said, “despite the fact that I hated to pay them $57,000.” The city settled for $57,500.
Pool report
The pool had 3,488 visitations in July, down 636 from last July. “I’m guessing it was because most people were swimming in the harbor,” said Head Lifeguard Charles Christiansen. Many of those choosing the unusually warm water of Lake Superior over the indoor pool were probably campground guests, because this July the pool had 482 fewer campground guest visits than last year.
Winter pool rates and hours will resume after Labor Day, which means the pool will start closing on Sundays again.
Campground and marina report
Campground income from January through July was up 14 percent over the same time period last year, and marina income was up 17 percent. Fuel sales in the marina were up 55 percent.
“Fishing has been great!” Manager Tersteeg said. “I’ve heard ‘the best ever.’” In a separate interview he said charter boat captains are saying the salmon are really biting and attributing this to the warmer lake temperatures this year.
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