Schroeder Township is using grant funding to pay for design work for the town park adjacent to Father Baraga’s Cross. The site was once the hub of the township, with a hotel and fishing and logging businesses operating there. C.J. Fernandez of LHB came up with a design concept that includes an open-air roofed picnic shelter. Input from the public will be solicited as the process moves along. More funding will be needed to bring the ideas to fruition.
When the opportunity presents itself, the township of Schroeder will be ready with the beginnings of a plan to enhance the town park adjacent to Father Baraga’s Cross on the shore of Lake Superior at the mouth of the Cross River. Landscape architect C.J. Fernandez of the design firm LHB presented ideas at the Schroeder Town Hall on April 25, 2013. A grant has enabled a task force to pursue an initial design concept.
Fernandez showed drawings of numerous amenities that could be included, such as improved parking, handicap accessibility, a pit toilet, seating, information kiosks, picnic tables, a roofed openair picnic shelter with a rock fireplace, and signage to increase visibility from the highway. The plan would also include storm water management and the small boat launch that is currently there.
Fernandez said he envisioned featuring three different areas: the open view of Lake Superior, a quiet riverside gathering and educational space, and the historic Father Baraga’s Cross (on a strip of land owned by the Catholic Diocese of Duluth).
The town park already has a grassy area on the shore, but this could be enlarged. Fernandez also mapped out a potential outdoor classroom or performance area beside the Cross River just above the cross. A walking path could connect the amenities.
The design combines elements of formality to match the style of the cross and natural materials to reflect the area, Fernandez said. The “timber-frame quality” of the open-air shelter in his design concept drawings would be in line with the “Lunde-esque details popping up” along the North Shore, he said, referring to the local cabins built by renowned architect Edwin Lunde.
Task force member Skip Lamb suggested that some boulders be installed to protect the area around the cross from waves during severe storms. With a lot of help from local volunteers, the Diocese of Duluth has enhanced and landscaped the walkway leading to the cross.
Lamb also wondered if the remnants of the old dock could be removed. Fernandez advised against that, however, saying that things like this can be featured as pieces of history. The old Smith Hotel, once considered the hub of the township, was located on the corner where the parking lot begins, he said. Schroeder Supervisor Roger “Bill” McKeever said people used to take a train up the North Shore to the Cramer Road, which led to the spot where the park and the cross are. It was integral to the area’s logging industry, he said. In addition, the Smith brothers’ fishhouse was located at the mouth of the river, he said.
The specifics of where gathering spaces and the potential picnic shelter would be placed could be worked out with input from the community, Fernandez said. Bill McKeever said he thought people would want a shelter overlooking the lake where the grassy area is now rather than in the woods by the river.
Fernandez said his concept included plenty of ideas in order to “push the bounds of the programming and see what sticks.”
Funding
More funding will be needed to take the ideas further. Fernandez said the more defined their plan is, with sustainable (ecofriendly) practices and programs for the public good such as education, the better their chances would be of obtaining grants to build it. Public engagement would also be necessary to obtain further funding, he said.
Fernandez advised the group that when amenities are added to a park, the owners of the park need to be ready to handle the cost of increased traffic. “Things change when you start to do those kinds of things,” he said. That could mean more frequent waste removal, cleaning, and maintenance.
This phase of the project is being funded by a federal grant through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Lake Superior Coastal Program. Other grants will be pursued. Fernandez said communities sometimes need to piece together numerous grants in order to fund projects like this, with each grant having its own set of objectives, such as storm water management or community enhancement. “When you’re looking for funding,” he said, “there’s a lot of material here to work with.”
Next steps
Fernandez said LHB is prepared to take the township through the next phase, which would be to engage the public and come up with a final design plan. This would cost another $10,000, although Fernandez said some of the work he presented already exceeded the initial work they were paid to do. Projects such as this are no longer a simple process, he said. Whenever the ground is disturbed, government regulations require that certain procedures be followed.
Lamb said he and McKeever would like to find out how many people have been using the park. Whenever they have had people working there, they’ve had a steady stream of visitors who stop by to look at the view, have coffee, or eat lunch, he said. They have an average of 25 cars parked in the lot for Sunday services in the summer, he said. Fernandez said the North Shore does not have a lot of public spots for people to access the lake.
Fernandez said he would incorporate the comments discussed at the meeting into a revised park plan that he would bring back to the task force or the township, at which time they could provide further direction.
Task force member Jim Norvell announced that the Slovenian Union of America would be donating a linden tree, the national tree of Slovenia, for the park. He also announced that he was stepping down from the task force since he had moved to Duluth. He will be replaced by Greg Myron. Norvell hopes the community will continue to work on this project and not let the initial design concept be forgotten in a drawer somewhere. “I’m going to continue on as a consultant!” he said.
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