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News from the Keweenaw Peninsula June 14, 2005   Text and photos © 2005 Michele Anderson. Slides of presentation © 2005 Joel Tuoriniemi. Reprinted with permission.

Keweenaw Mountain Lodge project awaits funding

By Michele Anderson

HOUGHTON -- Keweenaw County still awaits federal grant monies for expanding and renovating the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge near Copper Harbor to include a community/conference center. If funded, the project would eventually allow the Lodge to winterize for silent sports tourism.

Keweenaw County owns the 167-acre facility -- which includes a golf course, a lodge with dining area, cabins and a motel -- and has delegated oversight of the lodge to the Keweenaw County Road Commission.

If funding is awarded, the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge near Copper Harbor, owned by Keweenaw County and administered by the Keweenaw County Road Commission, may be expanded and renovated for a community/conference center and winterized for silent sports. (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

In a presentation titled "Using Grant Programs to Foster Economic Development in Keweenaw County," Joel Tuoriniemi, Keweenaw County Road commissioner and faculty member in the Michigan Tech University School of Business and Economics, gave an overview of the proposed expansion project during the May 17 "Better Development by Design" workshop at MTU.

"We really have to rely upon tourism as a staple (in Keweenaw County), Tuoriniemi said.

Explaining that the Mountain Lodge presently earns over $1 million in annual revenue, half of which goes back into the payroll for its employees, Tuoriniemi pointed out that increasing costs for utilities, insurance, etc., are making it difficult to meet payroll requirements. In addition, the Lodge is forced to turn away any group with more than 120 people because of insufficient space to accommodate them.

Tuoriniemi said the importance of the expansion/renovation project is its potential to make the Mountain Lodge a destination that would trickle down into the community as a catalyst for economic development. The original plan -- to build a conference center -- has now been adapted to meet grant requirements. The proposed 7,000 sq.-ft. center would increase the dining area and provide expanded meeting facilities.

"The sole (original) idea was, 'We're going to build a community/conference center,'" he said.

While the original plan was to build a new $1.3 million, 6,000 sq.-ft. facility with a 50-50 split on a Rural Development Loan with a matching grant, the County discovered grant money would not be available for a 50-50 split if the center were built alone.

Joel Tuoriniemi, Keweenaw County Road commissioner and faculty member in the Michigan Tech University School of Business and Economics, explains the proposed Keweenaw Mountain Lodge expansion project during the May 17 "Better Development by Design" workshop at MTU. (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

The advice from the federal granting agency was to renovate the Lodge enough to make it a year-round facility, since "year-round economic impact" would make it eligible for federal grant monies, Tuoriniemi explained. The project is presently estimated at a total of $3 million, taking into consideration the need for such capital improvements as upgrading water and sewer.

Keweenaw County will commit to a Rural Development Loan for $1.3 million and leverage the loan (for building the center) to qualify for an Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant for $1.7 million that will allow injecting capital improvements. These need to be made in the next three to five years whether or not the project is funded, Tuoriniemi added.

Keweenaw County Commissioner Don Keith is optimistic about the project being funded.

"I am an outspoken proponent of the Mountain Lodge upgrade," Keith said. "This will be one of the biggest things that has happened in Keweenaw County since the construction of the Mountain Lodge 70 years ago." 

As the sign in front of the lodge indicates, the Mountain Lodge came into being because of very high unemployment in the early 1930s, when mines had closed and an emergency work program, the Civil Works Administration, was created. In 1933 timber was cleared for the golf course (presently nine holes although it was cleared for 18). The club house was built in 1934 and renovated over the years. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) project to build the log cottages was approved.

Following the community guidelines for better development presented in the workshop, Tuoriniemi noted the importance of local residents choosing how the community develops.

During the discussion period of the May 17 design workshop held in MTU's Memorial Union Building, Joel Tuoriniemi chats with Keweenaw County Commissioner Don Keith, on his right, and, counterclockwise, Keweenaw County Planning/Zoning Commissioners Rich Probst and Kathy McEvers and former P/Z Commissioner Keith Walters. (Mrs. Walters is also present but not pictured.) (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

"We (the Road Commissioners) have a pretty deep responsibility because the Keweenaw County Mountain Lodge is owned and operated by Keweenaw County -- owned by the taxpayers," he said, "and the last thing we want to do is become a competitor with our private businesses."

While the Mountain Lodge now has 42 rental units, the potential of attracting large groups would mean that Copper Harbor motels and other businesses would benefit from the spillover effect.

"That's how we're going to help our private businesses," Tuoriniemi said.

To gauge the level of community support, the county, with the participation of its Economic Development Commission (EDC) had a series of public hearings and meetings, which were well attended, he said. In addition, most of the local businesses signed letters of support to the EDA for the project. A steering committee has been formed, and a co-marketing initiative with local merchants is being established.

Janet Shea, Copper Harbor business owner and a vice-chair of the Keweenaw County Planning/Zoning Commission, said she talked to business owners who signed a petition in support of the project.

"Everybody I know is supporting it," Shea said.

Former Grant Township Supervisor Richard Powers, who retired from this position on May 31, said if the Mountain Lodge can attract more visitors through this project it will benefit everybody.

"We (Copper Harbor businesses) can offer things they can't, and they can offer things we can't," Powers said. "I see it as a community effort."

Tuoriniemi noted the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has been involved with the project from day one.

"They've been very, very helpful," Tuoriniemi said. "They've come up with very good suggestions on how we're going to be able to preserve the historic integrity -- the whole historic aspect of the Mountain Lodge (which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places)." 

If the project is fully funded and permits the winterization of the lodge, the plan, based on marketing research, is to target silent sports like cross-country skiing and to work with the Department of Natural Resources to obtain additional funding for trails. Tuoriniemi noted the hope is to work with the Copper Country ski trail system in Houghton County and make the whole Keweenaw-Houghton county area a destination for silent sports.

"We think that snowmobiling is obviously a very, very important part of our winter economy, but that's being serviced very well by our existing businesses," he noted.

Tuoriniemi called the Mountain Lodge "the jewel of the Keweenaw," an "amazing facility," and stressed the importance of preserving its visual character.

This drawing shows the proposed expansion of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge to include a 7,000 sq.-ft. community/conference center, added to the rear of the building to preserve the original appearance of the front entrance. (Image © 2005 Joel Tuoriniemi. Reprinted with permission.)

The proposed community/conference center would be added to the rear of the building (presently occupied by two rarely used shuffleboard courts) so that the front entrance to the Lodge would still look as it does now, Tuoriniemi said. A minimal number of trees would have to be removed, but more planting could be done around the building.

Tuoriniemi said the feasibility study on the project is available to the public on CD Rom from the Keweenaw County Courthouse in Eagle River. 

Pointing out the economic impacts of the proposed project, Tuoriniemi said the goal is to increase the payroll from the present $500,000 to $1.1 million after seven years. According to the feasibility study, the total annual economic impact could be more than $3 million a year.

This slide from Joel Tuoriniemi's presentation shows estimates of the annual economic impact of the proposed project, according to the feasibility study. (Image © 2005 Joel Tuoriniemi. Reprinted with permission.)

In addition, the one-time construction economic impact is estimated at $1,875,000.

"It's been a really neat project to work on," Tuoriniemi said.

Editor's notes:  To learn more about the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, visit their new Web site. See our article on the first of the two "Better Development by Design" workshops (May 10), "Local residents, community leaders discuss design for better development."

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