Although September revenue was down $3,000 from September of 2017, overall the year-to-date income at the Grand Marais park and marina at the end of September is $1,197,518, up about $53,000 (4.8 percent) over last year at the same time.
Sweetheart’s Bluff
Work is ongoing to replace the two picnic shelters at Sweetheart’s Bluff, said park manager Dave Tersteeg to the park board at its Tuesday, October 2 meeting.
“Our crew has been busy dismantling the existing structures,” Tersteeg said. “The lower one has already been demolished. You can see a pile of lumber outside the office. We will be soon taking apart the upper one and maybe burning it in the winter, or sliding the pieces down the hill in the winter.”
Meanwhile, Mike and Anne from North House Folk School have been busy cutting timbers for the replacement shelters. The goal will be to have the new shelters installed on October 21-22 as part of a community engagement project. Volunteers are encouraged to sign up for the timber raising event at northhouse.org/programs/ community-programs.
Once the timber frames are up the park will roof the buildings and install decks on them.
The park board held a work session on Oct. 4 (after this edition was printed) to discuss two park projects that will be done in conjunction with the work on Highway 61 next summer.
The two big projects are the new entrance monument and the community connection path.
The board met with CJ Fernandez, a landscape architect who has been working with the Creative Economic Collaborative (CEC) on the design of new features, elements, and amenities associated with the Highway 61 project.
Tersteeg said the entrance, which is supposed to cost in the neighborhood of $100,000, would be built with real stone and timbers. Just what the access to the park will say is being debated, said Tersteeg. It is hoped the sign will also be a greeting to visitors coming into the town and not just the park, Tersteeg said.
As for the amenities like benches and bike racks, new lighting, etc. the city is planning to add in conjunction with the Highway 61 road work, Tersteeg said the public has asked that Grand Marais not get a cookie cutter plan that makes us look like “Eagan,” or like so many other places that upgrade their amenities when a project like this is undertaken.
Camper rates
No discussion was held about setting 2019 rates for campers, marina, golf, or setting other fees like storing extra cars.
Tersteeg said he had been too busy to get any numbers together for this meeting, but he asked the board to bring their ideas for rates to the November meeting. He added, “I know I always say I don’t hear any complaints about our rates, but maybe this year I did hear a few.“
Leave a Reply