The Latest on Third Street Marketplace, 906 Adventure Team, the Marq and the Brownstone, plus Drinking While Walking, Finlandia’s Demise, and Electric Vehicles in the UP
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
SLOW, VERY SLOW…but steady. That describes the progress at the much-anticipated and much-delayed Third Street Marketplace where plans have changed repeatedly over the last couple of years…The latest: Developer Joe Constance is hoping that Kognisjon Bryggeri (the Viking version of Cognition Brewery) will be open by sometime next month. Nothing’s certain, however.
Meantime, Fish Express, formerly a food truck business on the property, has moved inside, instead. A pizza restaurant has signed on to occupy another space at the Marketplace (Constance is hoping it’ll open in June), while the third and final space so far still remains vacant…
ON THE OTHER hand, things are moving along at near-warp-speed on Lakeshore Boulevard…The 906 Adventure Team recently closed on the deal to purchase their 2.5 acre property near Picnic Rocks, and has already moved in…And they’re immediately launching a campaign to raise $250,000 to build the bike park. A builder’s lined up and ready to go. Start date could be as soon as July 1 if they can raise even some of the cash.
SURE LOOKS LIKE we’ll be walking downtown and on Third Street this summer with drinks in hand…The Downtown Development Authority has been pushing for establishing a “Social District” in town that would allow for the loosened rules… “We’ve had meetings with the public, we’ve talked to a majority of restaurants and bars, and we’ve met with the police,” says Tara Laase-McKinney, the executive director of the DDA. She says they’ve answered most concerns about possible liability issues and underage drinking…Still to come: Approval by the City Commission and the Michigan Liquor Control Commission…She expects both, and the new rules could take effect by late Spring.
Why a “Social District”? It keeps people downtown, even while they’re waiting on their restaurant reservations, and it reinforces the idea that Marquette is a place where you want to spend more time, both inside the restaurants and bars, and outside on the sidewalks.
IT’S HARD TO imagine it’ll stay on the market much longer…The former Marq restaurant, next to the Children’s Museum, is now listed at the reduced price of $430,000 by RE/MAX…It’s been up for the sale for the last couple of years but was not listed on the MLS… “The restaurant is in great shape with all the equipment,” says realtor Chris Cosco. “It’s ready for a new owner to move in and start up immediately.”…The bonus? The restaurant already has a DDA liquor license.
FRUSTRATION FOR TOM Dolaskie, one of the owners who recently bought the Brownstone Inn with hopes to reopen it early this year. Not so fast…The Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has determined that the Brownstone has any aging, untrustworthy well with questions about its surface water, as well, and the new owners will have to make changes before the restaurant can reopen.
“There is no bacteria in the water,” insists Dolaskie, “and there’s been no bacteria in the water for 44 years.” He says recent tests have shown that repeatedly…Nevertheless, he says, EGLE has insisted that he either 1) truck in water while installing an expensive, new storage system on the site, or 2) inject chemicals into the water, which he refuses, or 3) undertake an expensive sampling program for the water, which he considers unnecessary…He’s willing to continue sampling the water regularly, but that apparently won’t satisfy EGLE…Dolaskie is now talking to lawyers.
THE NMU FOUNDATION is edging closer to choosing a contractor for demolition of the old hospital property…Seven bidders for the project have now been reduced to two…Selection of the winning bidder should come within a couple of weeks…The Foundation has now been awarded two grants, totaling $16 million, to aid in paying for the demolition.
BAD NEWS FOR Michiganders who’ve been receiving food assistance from the state…According to Bridge Michigan, 1.3 million residents saw their supplements cut on March 1st as the Covid emergency officially expired…The state says some low-income households could be losing as much as $500 a month.
NOT SURPRISING, PERHAPS, that Finlandia University is closing up shop. Enrollment has languished around 400-500 for the last few years, while tuition remains well above $20,000…Compare that to NMU’s tuition of roughly $13,000, depending on how many courses you take…Was the Finlandia educational experience truly that much better than NMU’s? For some students, perhaps, but certainly not for most.
And here’s the weird part. Even with Finlandia’s tiny enrollment, they managed to field teams in hockey, basketball, football, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, and cross country. Not sure what to make of that.
BAD LUCK FOR NMU this winter with the cancellation of the “UP 200 Powered by NMU”, even though they managed to put on a good party Friday night…NMU will be back at it again next year because the naming rights agreement they reached with the sled dog race is for three years, at $20,000 a year…The students designed the new logo, ran the social media for the event, and volunteered for it. The race and an outdoorsy university like NMU seem like a great fit…Now, if only the weather would cooperate.
Climate change? What climate change?
ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE the way to go! They’re our future! That’s what we’re told, anyway…Well, here in the UP, we may have to put the future on hold for a while. According to Bridge Michigan, most of the fast-charging DC stations in the state are in the lower half of Michigan…while only eight…are located in the UP. That’s right. Eight. We have some work to do.
AARON RODGERS…WE’VE loved watching that guy play quarterback for nearly two decades, but we’ve been less enchanted with him sharing his deep thoughts and indecision for the last couple of years…Time to move on…Time for him to pick up his buckets of cash and his wealth of insights, and start sharing them with another team and its fans…Time for Green Bay to turn the page. Time for Jordan Love to start airing it out.
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The Latest on Third Street Marketplace, 906 Adventure Team, the Marq and the Brownstone, plus Drinking While Walking, Finlandia’s Demise, and Electric Vehicles in the UP
Thank you for this consistently fun and interesting newsletter. I always learn a few things about Marquette and the inner workings of our city. I also wanted to commend you on the selection of Marquette's most influential people. While I did not know all of them (gone for a number of years), the ones I did know were really wonderful people, well deserving of recognition.
Actually, I've enjoyed Aaron Rodgers enjoying his deep thoughts. He was one of the few in the NFL to resist the pressure and not give in to the experimental mRNA therapy which is now wreaking havoc among young, super fit athletes who are keeling over left and right from myocarditis and pericarditis.
It's fascinating to see the many claims which were purported by the woke (but not awake) to be conspiracy theories are now turning out to be conspiracy facts, one after another.