On May 1, the Grand Marais Park Board made a list of capital improvement priorities as it does each spring. Top on the list were site upgrades to high-value sites, the Community Connection pedestrian entrance into the park, a new office/bathhouse complex, adding toddler equipment to the playground, and paving roads.
Park Manager Dave Tersteeg said the park continues to need additional large, upgraded sites for the newer slide-out RVs that need drive-through access and more electric power. The park’s master plan calls for minimizing loss of sites, but making some sites bigger would require losing a few. New regulations require larger sites than many of the ones currently in the park, but those sites have been grandfathered in and can stay as they are.
Tersteeg said he would develop a list of recommendations for site changes.
Also in the master plan but not on the immediate priority list is a structure that could accommodate large groups of people. Tersteeg said, “There is a need for an events/ wedding pavilion.” People are looking for a beautiful space on the water that could accommodate 200 people, he said.
Other projects that will impact the park are in the hands of entities outside the park, such as a new county-owned community center to include a pool and a new ball field, abandoning use of the street and public utilities departments’ buildings when new facilities can be found, a new boat launch funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and a new dog pound somewhere else in Grand Marais.
DNR boat launch
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is still planning to build a new boat launch in the southwest corner of the harbor. Park Manager Dave Tersteeg and park board member Bill Lenz recently went over preliminary plans with DNR staff, who said it might be built in 2014 or 2015.
Tersteeg said he and Lenz suggested that the plans include more access for regular vehicles (without boats), more open space, and walkways for pedestrians. He said the DNR plans to fund the project but does not want to see an events pavilion there as outlined in the park’s master plan because parking needs would compete. Park board member Paul Anderson said there would at some point be a lot of room for parking where the city’s public works buildings now stand.
Lenz said they would continue to discuss plans with the DNR.
Harbor Park cleanup day
The Grand Marais Garden Club and park staff will meet at 9:00 a.m. Monday, May 21 to beautify Harbor Park for the summer. They will deadhead flowers and trim garden plants. Community members are invited to come and help.
New meeting time
The park board changed its meeting time to 4:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month, one hour earlier than it has been meeting.
Beauty in the park
Chair Mianowski talked about numerous scenic vistas throughout the park and shoreline area. “There’s a lot of beauty in the harbor,” he said, “and a lot of people living around here don’t know we have it.”
Loading Comments