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David Whittaker / Courtesy Brook McIlroy
The Viewing Circle
The Viewing Circle, a place to contemplate the Sleeping Giant on the horizon across the bay, is a new feature of the Thunder Bay project along its urban shores.
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David Whittaker / Courtesy Brook McIlroy
Thunder Bay's Marina Park
In summer it’s a splash pad ...
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David Whittaker / Courtesy Brook McIlroy
Thunder Bay's Marina Park
... and in winter it’s a skating rink, making this feature of the waterfront popular all year.
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David Whittaker / Courtesy Brook McIlroy
Thunder Bay Waterfront
Thunder Bay’s waterfront has come alive thanks to a design that brings together people for leisure, dining, lodging or recreation. The plan has incorporated a marina, gathering spaces for events, outside artwork and sculptures, as well as recreational options, like skateboarding.
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Visit Duluth
Duluth's Waterfront
There’s no doubt Duluth has worked to make its waterfront a hopping spot. Many restaurants have outdoor decks and there is this public overlook near Fitger’s Brewery Complex.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Duluth's Lakewalk
The Lakewalk transports walkers, bicyclists or skaters along 7 miles of shore.
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Visit Duluth
Duluth's Bayfront Blues Festival
The annual Bayfront Blues Festival takes good advantage of Bayfront Festival Park. It is August 8-10 this year.
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Jerry Kimball
Duluth's Leif Erikson Park
Leif Erikson Park has long been a popular site beside the water, often hosting events and even plays on the stone stage beside the Lake.
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Courtesy Hampton Inn
Marquette's Hampton Inn
The new Hampton Inn has changed the face of Marquette’s waterfront, adding amenities beside its working ore dock and on-the-water options for guests.
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Aaron Peterson
Marquette's Waterfront
As with many Lake Superior cities, Marquette has earned multiple awards for its waterfront designs.
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Aaron Peterson
Marquette's Waterfront
A downtown marina and increased accessibility to the waterfront – as well as a natural sand beach in town – welcomes residents and visitors to Marquette’s waterfront.
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Courtesy Tourism Sault Ste. Marie & City of Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario's Roberta Bondar pavilion
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has used walkways, wooden sculptures and the tent-like Roberta Bondar pavilion and marina to make the waterfront inviting. In this photo the dark hull of the Norgoma, a floating museum ship, can also be seen.
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Courtesy Tourism Sault Ste. Marie & City of Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario's Waterfront
Clergue Park features a spraying fountain in summer months.
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Michelle Hill / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Soo Locks
In Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the Soo Locks are a huge waterfront draw. Engineers Day visitors line the Poe Lock wall as the Roger Blough passes.
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Michelle Hill / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Soo Locks
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers linehandler stands by as the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw enters the MacArthur Lock. Engineers Day is June 27 this year.
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Art LaFromboise / Art by Art Photography
Nipigon, Ontario
The town's waterfront project is linked to development of the Paddle-to-the-Sea Park.
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Chuck Cardinal
Grand Marais, Michigan
After a decades-long campaign, the village completed its breakwater in 2012.
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Michigan Tech
Hancock/Houghton, Michigan
Last summer, work began on nearly 400 feet of new boardwalk, with more revitalization projects planned.
Lake Superior's Cities Bring More to the Urban Shores
At the dawn of human history, water civilized people.
Only beside a source of water could people permanently gather in large numbers while meeting the vital daily needs of a community. Without adequate water, early humans could not have created the villages that became towns that grew into cities.
For the earliest residents of Lake Superior’s shores, the inland sea provided potable water, but also a food-gathering source and a means of transportation. The lives of those first Lake-region inhabitants focused toward the water every day.
In our modern times, the convenience of instant water with the twist of a wrist removed its source from our daily consciousness. Sure, no one can ignore 3 quadrillion gallons of water on your doorstep, but there was a time when civic development of our shoreside cities did not emphasize our connection to the Big Lake. The main waterfront enterprises tied to heavy industry or maritime traffic. Our waterfronts were for salvage yards, manufacturing plants and the occasional dicey bar that served a burly (or burlesque) clientele.
The past three decades, however, have seen a shift in focus and an amazing investment and revitalization of our city waterfronts into welcoming places for local residents and far-traveling visitors. In this special State of the Lake report, three writers take us to the Big Lake’s major cities to witness the waking up of our waterfronts.
Thunder Bay – Ours to Celebrate
by Elle Andra-Warner
Stroll along any of the walking paths on Thunder Bay’s urban waterfront – known as Prince Arthur’s Landing at Marina Park – and you can sense the strong presence of human history as it unfolded beside one of the world’s most beautiful freshwater bays.
This stretch of Lake Superior shore has always attracted activity, but its true blossoming as an urban gathering place has occurred within the past decade.
The regal name of Prince Arthur’s Landing goes back to July 1870, when the famous British Colonel Garnet J. Wolseley arrived on his way to quell the Red River Rebellion at today’s Winnipeg.
When the colonel arrived with his expeditionary force on steamships carrying 150 boats, 1,200 men, plus horses, cattle, equipment, food and supplies, this Lake Superior community numbered around 200 residents and had no real name other than “the Depot” or “the Landing.” A staunch English loyalist, the good colonel took it upon himself to bestow on the town an official name, “Prince Arthur’s Landing,” after Queen Victoria’s third son, the duke of Connaught (who did a one-hour stopover in the 1890s).
With no dock deep or large enough to moor Wolseley’s boats, the massive force and supplies were moved ashore by a flat-bottomed scow, a steam launch and rowboats.
In 1883, Prince Arthur’s Landing was renamed Port Arthur, and in 1970, it merged with neighboring Fort William to form the modern city of Thunder Bay. During that 100 years, the waterfront area grew along with the cities, mainly developing to meet industrial needs, though a portion was preserved as a park.
Fast forward to 2014, and what a difference the good colonel would see.
A thriving city of 109,141 – Lake Superior’s largest municipality – Thunder Bay has invested in its waterfront since 2006, creating a gathering space for residents and visitors and constructing a 276-slip marina that could accommodate even Wolseley’s heavily laden ship.
The ongoing transformation has earned more than a dozen awards for architectural design and multiple accolades from those now regularly flocking to waterfront activities all year long.
In 2006, the city commissioned the Toronto firm of Brook McIlroy to design the Marina Park project. It has since opened an office in Thunder Bay, which will remain even after the project has been completed.
With the initial plans already under way, Thunder Bay was poised to take advantage of the national economic stimulus monies made available during the recession of 2008.
The $130-million public and privately funded development was intended “to bring life to the downtown and cause development in the north core, which it has,” says Sean Serino, a Thunder Bay native and a senior associate with Brook McIlroy. “It’s definitely very successful. A lot more than what the city had envisioned.”
What the city envisioned, says Kathy Ball, operations coordinator for Marina Park, was embodiment of these sentiments: “Connected, year-round and ours to celebrate.”
The renovated and revitalized spaces cover once deteriorating areas and also a city park. What would happen to that park was a point of some contention for those who used its walkways as their waterfront respite.
The problem, say designers, was that the park didn’t attract or welcome enough people to fulfill its potential benefit, although a pedestrian walkway built over the railroad tracks and highway linked it to downtown. The Prince Arthur’s Landing design incorporates green spaces and features views of the iconic Sleeping Giant across the bay from all vantage points.
The project has repurposed existing historic buildings, such as the former train station and what is called the baggage building, now an arts centre. New buildings have gone up; more are in the works. The first year-round eatery in the park, Bight Restaurant and Bar, opened in 2012. Condos and a hotel will open as early as this spring.
These days, the Waterfront Plaza buzzes with activities and attractions, Kathy says. Ten years ago, the park drew only about 20,000 people each year – two-thirds of them for Canada Day events there.
“As we celebrate two years of post-construction, the numbers have increased to more than 110,000 people a year frequenting the park. The splash pad/skating rink bring in more than 50,000, the skateboard/BMX plaza averages 10,000 a year. Winter festivals and movie nights in the park are also new activities bringing more families to the waterfront.”
One particularly popular site is the skateboard plaza. (Sometimes skateboarders even clean it off for winter use.) Another site transforms depending on the season – in winter ice skaters flock to the popular outdoor skating rink that converts in summer to a state-of-the-art splash pad.
Although it’s only been open for about a year, Bight has become one of Thunder Bay’s most popular restaurants with 100,000 guests last year, says Kathy.
The full-service restaurant also operates a quick-service concession window steps from the skating rink and walking paths. The 90-seat establishment was named for its waterfront venue, explains Bight’s owner and general manager Bianca Garofalo. “The definition of bight is ‘a band or curve in the line between land and water,’ which we think is appropriate considering its stunning location.”
Business has also boomed at the dock in front of Bight, where Captain Greg Heroux and his Sail Superior offers sailing excursions. “We now have two full-time captains,” Greg says.
While construction continues on the multi-million-dollar, multiple-use waterfront development, one area that is completed and drawing high praise is the diverse public art installations. For example, on Pier 2, there are three large digital works on glass panels by Thunder Bay artist Mark Nisenholt that explore human relationships to water and nature. In front of the Bight restaurant, the Traveller’s Return display of huge water droplets represents the commanding waters of Lake Superior. And throughout the park a series of 12 local and regional literary works are engraved on granite benches.
Particularly interesting are the nine large steel panels on the exterior of the Celebration Circle in the Spirit Garden. Eight panels are the work of artist Randy Thomas, digitally transferred and cut onto Corton steel panels; the ninth panel is the art of his father, the late Roy Thomas, an internationally recognized artist of the Woodland Art style that originated in the region.
According to the waterfront architect Calvin Brook, principal of the Brook McIlroy/Pace Architects, “The vision for Prince Arthur's Landing includes an important commitment to public art, which features the amazing talent of regional artists. The waterfront will become an arts-based destination – drawing visitors from the region, Canada and around the world.”
Prince Arthur’s Landing and the waterfront beyond are still works in progress. The future will see activity around the area of the demolished grain elevator.
In his 2013 State of the City address, Mayor Keith Hobbs said, “As we move ahead with Prince Arthur’s Landing, we are at the same time turning our attention to the rest of the city’s 52-kilometre waterfront. We have been discussing some interesting opportunities for the next phase, such as an active transportation corridor along the lakeshore that connects the north and south ends of Thunder Bay.”
This year construction continues on condos and on the upscale hotel, Delta Thunder Bay, which will offer 150 guestrooms and suites, conference/meeting space, full-service restaurant and lounge, outdoor patio and state-of-the-art facilities. In the works to open in summer 2015 is the outdoor Market Square for outside vendors and a commercial building with indoor vendors, similar to Winnipeg's famous downtown riverfront, The Forks.
“The project has elevated the city’s expectations with respect to urban design by carefully considering building massing, height and form to preserve views, maintain public access to the water and sensitively manage the interface between public and private uses,” Kathy says. “Prince Arthur’s Landing represents a complete transformation of an underutilized park and marina into a year-round destination that celebrates local culture, history and art.”
Duluth – The Community Hub
by Konnie LeMay
Duluth had a “waterfront” focus long before the arrival of the Europeans who named it for French explorer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut. Ojibwe residents call it Onigamiinsing, the “little portage place,” where canoes are easily transported from the St. Louis River’s outlet over Minnesota Point to Lake Superior. Even early European settlers here identified with the vast waters forming the southern edge of the city – “Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas” was the lofty title declared by pioneer newspaperman and city booster Thomas Preston Foster in 1868.
While the water has always been a focal point for the city, activity there concentrated on industrial enterprises for more than a century. It was when the city hit economic troubled waters after major industries left that Duluth’s leaders turned to Lake Superior with a different view – not the Lake as a strong back on which to build industry, but as a majestic beauty and a desired lifestyle location.
Outside perception also had to be overcome, says Jerry Kimball, head of the city’s Physical Planning Division from 1968 to 1995. “The vision of the city from outside, from the Twin Cities primarily, was that you drove through Duluth to get to the North Shore.”
Public planning started around 1984 and drew up a new vision for Duluth based on its two greatest economic potentials of the time – health care and the waterfront. Canal Park was to become a nucleus for the new vision of the old city.
Jerry visited waterfront cities with successful makeovers like Boston and Baltimore. He discovered what drew people. “They come to experience the water. … The best waterfronts are the ones where the people can walk around.”
So Duluth’s main draws were already in place – the Lake and the bay, the historic Aerial Lift Bridge and the passing ships. Unfortunately, to reach those, people had to cross neglected industrial areas and a salvage yard.
As public plans gathered steam, private enterprises had already bet on the future of Canal Park. Local entrepreneurs Michael “Mick” Paulucci and Andy Borg opened Grandma’s Restaurant in 1976 next to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center, which had opened just three years earlier.
Brian Daugherty, president of Grandma’s Restaurant Company, started with the company its first year. He relates a story to show the challenge of that era. Grandma’s was operated only on the first floor, with renovation being done on the second floor. After waiting tables, Brian says, he would go upstairs to work on construction of the second-floor bar, slated to open that summer.
“I was 18 years old; the owners were 21 and 23. We would be pounding floorboards down and then all of a sudden, Andy would look up and he’d go, ‘Hey, here comes a car!’ We would all stop and … walk over to the window and watch it. Andy would go, ‘Come on, come on, come on,’ and the car would come past the junkyard and pass the burger joint, and it would turn in our parking lot, and we’d all go ‘Yay!’ and we’d clap.”
Then some of the ad hoc construction crew would head downstairs to serve the customers.
Today, everyone knows Canal Park as a hub of activity featuring shops, lodging and gourmet to fast-food dining. Grandma’s company alone has four restaurants there and recently purchased and renovated the 50,000-square-foot Adventure Zone family fun recreation center.
Public-private partnerships created success, Jerry says. Private property owners donated land for the critical water access that became the Lakewalk, which now stretches 7 miles from Bayfront Festival Park to Brighton Beach. “It’s not just kind of hit and miss access, but the length and breadth of Duluth. We were so lucky to get all of that land.”
Serendipity – and good planning – came into play when the state and federal governments invested in the extension of I-35 through Duluth. Minnesota Department of Transportation needed to unload tons of rock from construction and Duluth needed material to reinforce the shoreline. Both saved thousands through the effort.
Almost half of the $9.3 million redesign came from $4.2 million in city-backed bonds and from a tax-increment financing district – the city basically betting on increased taxes from the improvements, Jerry says. Funds were offered for businesses to improve their storefront looks and for “nostalgic” art elements, like the canopy and signage designed by an architect for the Mobile gas station.
The investments were a good bet. Gross sales for shops there increased 90 percent the three years after renovations, according to Jerry. Waterfront and downtown makeovers gave the city a renewed energy for residents and a new face for out-of-town visitors. At the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, he says, “the number of large conventions increased from 12 in 1988 to 42 in 1997, and we know a lot of that’s due to the character of the city.”
One component of the redesign was artwork, Jerry says. “Normally cities and some states require – and Minnesota does, too – 1 percent of construction costs will be for public art. We got about 5 percent. It really gets to the heart and the soul of the project and the history.”
Nearly 600 artists applied to do projects, resulting in sculptures, the mosaic wall and other art pieces. A brochure from Visit Duluth gives a self-guided tour of the artworks.
Duluth has gotten numerous awards for its waterfront design, including national awards from the Waterfront Center for the overall project and for the William A. Irvin as an educational waterfront exhibit. In his retirement, in fact, Jerry is invited to speak about waterfront renovations.
One might think Duluth has finished its waterfront masterwork. Hardly. Projects continue to refine the area. One private undertaking would transform an abandoned cement silo and pier into a retail and hotel space. Developers Sandy Hoff and Alex Giuliani seek financing for the $32 million Pier B Project. Cleanup of the 7-acre industrial site will be paid with a $1 million state grant through the Duluth Economic Development Authority.
Another major project proposed by Mayor Don Ness has caused a stir. He proposes to fill in the Minnesota Slip currently used by the William A. Irvin museum ship, the Vista Fleet and charter fishing boats. Filling that slip is the most cost effective way, Don says, to address three major concerns: 1) frequent breakdown of the blue pedestrian bridge tying Canal Park businesses to the DECC, Great Lakes Aquarium and Bayfront Festival Park; 2) deterioration of the seawall on the western side of the slip that has created sinkholes and required blocking off areas; and 3) environmental contamination in the slip after years of industrial use and dumping. A fourth benefit would be more parking in Canal Park, Don says, adding that the proposal would save the city several millions of dollars in repairs and pollution cleanup. Project cost would run about $2 million rather than more than $12 million. He also recommends an improved pedestrian corridor.
“So this vision sought to address all four of those problems as well as … enhance the visitor experience,” Don says. “The one that I’m most excited about is this improved pedestrian corridor from the Lakewalk through Canal Park, in front of the DECC and all the way down to Bayfront and the new Pier B development … making it a more enjoyable experience.”
Revisions have already been made to the original proposal, which included eliminating public vehicle traffic behind the DECC. Now Don suggests a one-way street instead. His plan would replace the 50 spots for recreational boats with a new 150-spot marina near that entry.
As a long-time waterfront planner, Jerry opposes elimination of the blue bridge and filling in of the slip. Moving the Irvin too far from that hub area and removing the slip water will diminish the visitor experience, he says, adding that the proposed marina site may be too close to the bridge traffic.
The public will get a chance to discuss the proposal as early as this spring. “It’s essentially a first draft, the first version of this,” the mayor says. “Our purpose in putting this forward is to stimulate discussion and to challenge people to think big and to see the potential of this area beyond just tweaking at the margins.”
So Duluth will not sit on its laurels when it comes to its waterfront vision. After working with the public on the original waterfront vision, Jerry holds highly the tenacity of Duluthians in monitoring new plans. “What made this work was Duluth’s stubbornness. … A lot of people say you can’t get anything through Duluth, but that’s worked to our advantage. It’s made Duluth a better city.”
Marquette – Fit for a Queen
by Frida Waara
Water not only defines Marquette, it’s how this Queen City of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was discovered. Voyageurs and missionaries in the 1700s to land speculators and miners in the 1900s all arrived by boat, debarking at the natural harbor now known as Founders Landing.
After European settlement on that sandy beach, industry quickly took root. The shore became key to the supply chain delivering iron ore from Negaunee to the smelters of Cleveland. The port needed loading docks, sawmills, coal yards and railways. Growth transformed the pristine shoreline into a stretch of sooty black-and-gray buildings pocked with scrap yards and coal piles.
“In those early years, the wealthy who lived along Ridge Street overlooking the harbor couldn’t even hang out their laundry because of the coal dust,” says Jim Koski, board president of the Marquette Regional History Center. For a decade, the veteran “historical storyteller” has been leading tours of Marquette and telling tour goers, “The only reason Marquette exists is because of our large natural harbor.”
Commerce ruled the lower harbor, and the Spear family owned a sizable chunk. In 1925, Spear and Sons built a dock on the north rim of the cinder pond at the site of the Grace Furnace. By 1930, ships were off-loading as much as 1.5 million tons of coal per year and hauling away thousands of board feet of lumber. The last coal delivery was in 1975, and when George Spear died in 1977, he offered the dock and adjoining land to the city in his will.
At that time, a young architect, Barry Polzin, moved back home to Marquette. “I rented a little apartment on Ridge Street overlooking Spear’s Coal Dock. They were starting to disassemble the old structure, but it was a huge mess. I’d watch people who were still burning coal in their houses come and shovel the remains right into their trunk.”
Even though the industrial site was black and dusty, the first public event there was in the summer of 1978. The American Wind Symphony, traveling on a specially equipped vessel between Great Lakes cities, pulled up to the dock and opened to become a symphony stage with a full orchestra performing an open-air concert.
“People came by the thousands. I think it was the first time so many people living in Marquette were all in one place,” Barry remembers. When the performance concluded with the William Tell Overture and fireworks, it was like a siren signaling a new era in Marquette’s history.
“That’s when we started to turn Marquette around,” says former mayor Jerry Irby. “It took time before the coal dock was transformed into the 22-acre park we enjoy today. After all, interest rates at that time were 18 percent, and there was no money for development.”
Longtime Marquette banker Ellwood Mattson raised more than $500,000 for the project. In 1989, the park was dedicated in his honor. From that momentum, the city continued to acquire property and to bring focus to the waterfront. As the railroad abandoned land along Lakeshore Boulevard, the city and local developers moved forward to purchase and improve.
“The Lake has always been one of the real jewels of the city,” says Mayor Robert Neimi. “Throughout the last few decades, any waterfront property that becomes available, (the city has) purchased for public use.”
“We’re unlike so many other harbor towns,” says Jerry. “We’ve worked to acquire 80 to 90 percent of our lakeshore and keep it open to the public and recreation. And from that, business has piggy-backed on the effort to share the benefits. It’s like a puzzle – little by little, we put the pieces together.”
In 2000, the Soo Line railroad trestle was dismantled and “so was a barrier that divided Washington Street from Baraga Avenue,” says Mona Lang, executive director for Marquette’s Downtown Development Authority.
Removing the trestle joined the city’s north and south sides and provided clear space to the waterfront. Linking the downtown with the waterfront is a critical element to success, planners from all of the Lake Superior cities agree.
Barry, who has been instrumental in renovating downtown buildings, helped turn the old Rosewood building. Front and Main streets into UpFront & Company, a restaurant and nightclub, launching a fresh dynamic to the area’s nightlife. “That was a catalyst for downtown business,” Barry says. Renovating the structure brought stability to business on the block, but UpFront also stirred new energy. Other restaurants followed – Elizabeth’s Chop House, L’Attitudes and The Waterfront also faced the Lake.
But true revival of any downtown or waterfront area, Barry believes, means more than recreation and business. “You have to get people to live there.”
From 2003 to 2008, 44 apartments or condominums were added in three developments – two remodeled buildings – the Flanigan’s and Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad structures – and one new complex, Harbor Ridge, or as locals call it, “the Birdhouses.”
“When we built the Birdhouses, there was such a pent up demand for downtown condos that we sold all 14 units in 10 weeks,” Barry says.
A year later, construction began on another of Barry’s waterfront designs, Founders Landing, a project started in 2001 when the city acquired 29 acres south of the ore dock.
It took $11 million dollars – with help from the state of Michigan – to demolish old holding tanks, remediate environmental concerns and extend Lakeshore Boulevard with utilities, but by March 2009, the acreage, which the city divided into three parcels, was ready for construction.
The Landing Development Group, a team of five local businessmen, including Barry, has worked residential housing in the area with four of six townhomes completed on the west side of the boulevard.
In October 2009, the group purchased a 3.5-acre parcel on the east side of Lakeshore Boulevard closest to the ore dock, designed as a mixed-use residential and commercial development to attract tourists to the waterfront. The location has been ideal for Tim and Randy Larson, longtime hoteliers in Marquette, who purchased about half of the parcel to build the U.P.’s only Hampton Inn, one of the few hotels located on the lakefront. Its first year of operation, the 84-room hotel served 19,000 guests.
A major positive addition to the waterfront has nothing to do with buildings. Marquette has invested in 17 miles of bike trails within the city, trails that feature waterfront travel and connect to out-of-town pathways. Integration of recreational activity has long been a goal for the city’s waterfront and stems from its gem, the 323-acre forested Presque Isle Park at the end of Lakeshore Boulevard.
“People nowadays are looking more at the water,” Robert says, “with more time for recreation and exercise.”
The next challenge for the city will be decisions whether or how to use an abandonned ore dock. “We’re hoping we don’t have to tear it down,” Robert says. A structural engineer is reviewing the options.
Old and new, residence and recreation, are blending. “The Hampton Inn and the adjacent park and bike path have really brought the waterfront up to the next level,” says Pat Black, director of the Marquette County Convention and Visitor Bureau. “This is certainly the first step in giving visitors a taste of what it’s like to live in Marquette and why we love it here.”
Two Sault Ste. Maries – Riverbank & Lakeshore
by Konnie LeMay
It’s likely that the first Lake Superior “waterfront” Europeans ever saw was at the rapids of today’s Sault Ste. Marie twin cities.
To arrive at the native villages here around 1621, Étienne Brûlé, the first European thought to reach Lake Superior’s shores, would have portaged around the rapids created by a 21-foot drop from the Lake into the St. Marys River, along which he traveled from Lake Huron. That drop of water level would define development for the lakefront and riverfront properties connected to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
As with many Lake Superior waterfronts, the maritime traffic ignited development, mostly industrial, but would also become the eventual draw of people to the water.
On the Michigan side, one of the main tourist attractions also dictates what can or cannot be planned for waterfront revitalization. The 177-year-old Soo Locks dominate the city center beside the lakeshore and river.
“The majority of our waterfront is federally owned,” says Kelly Freeman, the city’s planning and zoning administrator. With tighter restrictions for homeland security, the number of access points to that stretch of the waterfront has actually been reduced in the past decade, he adds.
Regardless of the tighter control, the locks and the chance to see large ships up close and personal still attracts crowds. “It’s an enormous tourist draw for the community – annually right around a half a million visitors come through the visitors center,” Kelly says. “It definitely has quite a gravitational pull in terms of tourists into the community.”
Most visitors spend one to two hours in the center, viewing exhibits that chronicle lock construction and a 30-minute video about the structure and its use.
The immediate park areas surrounding the locks also are federally held, but create gathering spots, with a lit fountain, gardens, shady walkways and benches to view passing vessels. Weekly concerts and larger summer events are held in and around the park.
While much of the lake and riverfront is federally controlled, some waterfront areas have been developed by private enterprises. The non-profit Le Sault de Sainte Marie Historical Sites Inc. has been key in creating public-friendly waterfront locales, such as the George Kemp Marina, the Tower of History and River of History museums, and the Valley Camp museum ship (one of only three floating ship museums on Lake Superior along with the Norgoma across in Sault, Ontario, and the William A. Irvin in Duluth).
On the Ontario side of the river, waterfront renovation and investment has been a major priority for decades. The makeover from heavy industrial use to broader commerce and community gathering site has been “tremendous,” says city Planning Director Don McConnell.
The true push for changing the waterfront usage began in the 1970s, but the catalyst for it all, Don believes, came around the time of Canada’s centennial in 1960 when funding became available for a waterfront structure. “At the time, they built a new main branch of the public library. A lot of people consider that the first step toward the waterfront revitalization.”
The library drew people to the riverfront and lakefront and brought recognition of its potential, but it was nestled into an industrial neighborhood – “a tank farm, a coal farm, foundry, railyard, chrome plant, scrap-metal yard,” cites Don. By 1971 came the first stage of the Station Mall, which turned a railway yard into a commercial retail enterprise. Rapidly following were the Holiday Inn (1974) and the new city hall and civic center (1975).
The city was poised to create its waterfront boardwalk in 1991 when it ran into a snag. “When we got our prices in, it was much higher than what we’d allocated for it. Rather than cheapen the project, they spread it over two years,” Don says. That investment has paid off mightily with use of the area by tourists and residents.
The energy of the area mounted with additional attractions – history sites like the Bushplane Heritage Center and the Ermatinger Old Stone House and entertainment venues like the OLG Casino. The Algoma Conservatory of Music is moving into a historic waterfront structure and will open there in September. It is Ontario’s second largest conservatory outside of the Royal Conservatory in Toronto.
Creation of the Roberta Bondar Tent Park Pavilion brought 14,000 square feet of covered space that can seat up to 1,750 people and can be rented for private events, such as weddings. Artwork, such as whimsical wooden sculptures of bears, fish and moose, along the boardwalk make for great posing spots for those “Kodak moments,” Don says. “It’s fun and it’s interesting and it makes the whole place more humane.”
Now the city is tying together its waterfront areas and looping into its nearby downtown streets. Recent investments of around $1.3 million of city, provincial and federal funds into the downtown were added to the $20 million estimated investments made by private sector enterprises.
Two years ago, the Hub Trail was completed, a non-motorized recreational pathway that creates a 25-kilometre loop around the Sault, “and, of course, the waterfront boardwalk is a key element to that,” Don says.
The next phase of the plans involves adding living spaces to round out the neighborhood. Apartments and condos are being developed in former hospital buildings, while abandoned industrial sites will be revamped with pathways and new landscaping such as trees. “That’s probably going to happen over the next year, the next three years,” Don says.
The decades of investments are turning into a draw for visitors and, as importantly, for new professional residents who love the idea of biking from home to work on the new Hub Trail or enjoying the cultural activities of the waterfront neighborhood.
Don says it makes people’s think, “‘This is great, this is the lifestyle that I want.’ … That is what the downtown and the downtown waterfront does for Sault Ste. Marie.”
Waterfront Notables
Nipigon, Ontario – The town finalized a development plan in March 2013 that will transform the town’s waterfront, a project linked to development of its Paddle-to-the-Sea Park in town. The 10-year plan calls for an observation tower and lookout area near the Trans Canada Highway, along with an events park for concerts and festivals. The town has also targeted its under-used lagoon for further development; learn-to-sail and -kayak programs and a boardwalk are planned.
Grand Marais, Michigan – After a decades-long campaign, the village completed its breakwater in 2012. The 1,400-foot wall of rock shelters the harbor from storms and sand. Last year, dredging cleared the harbor’s depths and reopened the marina to larger vessels, which had been unable to navigate the sand-choked waters. Jack Hubbard, who championed the project while supervisor of Burt Township, told local TV station WLUC, “You have no idea how beautiful this pile of rock looks to me and to the community. We, once again, are going to have a safe harbor.”
Hancock/Houghton, Michigan – After Hancock surveyed residents about its downtown in 2011, the city identified waterfront development as an area for improvement. Last summer, work began on nearly 400 feet of new boardwalk. The city improved the Front Street wall and a historic stairway park near the Portage Lake Lift Bridge, with more revitalization projects planned. Across the Keweenaw Waterway, in Houghton, the $25 million Great Lakes Research Center opened on the waterfront in August 2012. The striking four-story building, part of Michigan Technological University, has since become a hub for cutting-edge research and on-the-water expeditions.
Freelance writers Elle Andra-Warner of Thunder Bay and Frida Waara of Marquette are frequent contributors. We think of them as family.
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Jakub Sisak more than 8 years ago