Left: Two new picnic shelters have been put up to replace old, dilapidated ones at Sweetheart’s Bluff. More on this project will be published next week. Above: Beavers have been hard at work in the recreation park again. This tree fell either late Wednesday or early Thursday morning, Nov. 8. Photo courtesy of North House Folk School
The Grand Marais recreational park board spent much of the November 7 meeting talking about planning for the new sign at the park entrance and the work that will be done to remake the Community Connection Corner at the east end of the park.
Both projects will be done in conjunction with the Highway 61 corridor work scheduled for 2019 and 2020.
CJ Fernandez, landscape architect, AFLA, came before the board with an update about the Highway 61 project park pieces.
CJ has been working with the Creative Economic Collaborative (CEC) on designing new features, elements, and amenities associated with the Highway 61 project. He is also working with the park board on the new entrance monument sign to the park and the Community Connection Corner.
While the highway work will take at least two years to complete, CJ said the park projects should be finished in 2019.
After displaying several artistic renderings of what the sign could look like, CJ asked the park board to think of what they want the sign to say.
“Welcome to the Grand Marais Recreation Area,” with an arrow pointing to the park, suggested Kaye Tavernier.
Several other ideas were suggested, but CJ said the board could think more about phrasing and get that information back to him shortly.
Also discussed was where the sign could be—or should be— placed. If it is in the right of way, CJ said the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) states that only one community sign can be in the right of way, and Grand Marais currently has two signs in the right of way. “This would be a third sign in the right of way,” said Fernandez, adding he would like the monument to be demarked by MnDOT as a community sign.
Wherever the sign is placed, CJ said the goal is for it to serve as a welcome to visitors of the recreation park and as welcome to the town of Grand Marais. Whichever design is picked, the sign will be made out of timbers and stone and will be lighted.
Next, CJ showed renderings of the Community Connection. In his drawings, the paved path would be moved slightly and widened to 12 feet to be ADA compliant. There would be a kiosk, benches and bike racks and a hill would be terraced with a stone retaining wall. Included in the work was an open archway with elements of a totem influenced by the late great local artist and former college art instructor George Morrison.
The cost of the stone alone is estimated at $80,000 to $90,000, said Fernandez, adding that while he loved the look and quality of the work, the project would be expensive.
At this time Cook County EDA director Mary Somnis asked if she could speak, which was granted.
“I know this is not my meeting, but I have some information I would like to share with you,” she said.
Somnis came before the board with information about the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board’s (IRRRB) Downtown Streetscapes grant program.
The grant program is funded at $200,000 for the fiscal year 2019, with awards ranging up to $50,000. The agency provides a one-toone match, with in-kind materials (materials, labor) constituting up to 25 percent of the local match.
Somnis said either the sign or the community connection work or both might qualify for a grant. The only problem, said Somnis, was that the grant applications have to be submitted by the end of this month.
“The EDA would be the applicant for the park board,” said Somnis, adding she would write a broad-based application because not all of the details for either project are completed.
Parks manager Dave Tersteeg and the park board members encouraged Somnis to submit an application on the park board’s behalf, which she agreed to do.
Golf course
The Gunflint Hills golf workshop held jointly by the Grand Marais city council and park board on October 26, “made for a valuable meeting of information and ideas sharing,” said Tersteeg.
“There was a general consensus by all that attended that the golf course is a valuable community asset and worth the time and investment to continue the operation,” he added.
Topics discussed at the meeting were future staffing, golf course rates, marketing and the operation inside the clubhouse. A task force will look at the 2019 golf course rates with a recommendation brought to the park board for approval before the spring season.
Tersteeg gave a shout out to John Burnett, the seasonal groundskeeper for the yeoman’s work he did this summer.
“John did an exceptional job of not only keeping up the grounds and maintaining the golf cart fleet this summer, but he also put everything to bed properly this fall. Charles Christiansen also did a great job helping out, and Paul Jones made sure the course was adequately aerated, fertilized and prepped for winter. Burnett also winterized all of the small engines and golf carts,” said Tersteeg.
Tersteeg said the water lines have been blown out and the course is now winterized. Jones, who is a professional groundskeeper the city hired this summer, also sprayed some of the greens to (hopefully) prevent winter mold, said Tersteeg.
Due to the length of this meeting the board postponed discussing 2019 park and marina rates until the December meeting.
Leave a Reply