Understaffed Restaurants, the Huge Hotel Development, the Old Hospital Property, and McBroom’s Ordeal
Read the latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
SO YOU WANNA grab a quick lunch downtown? We tried Tuesday between 1:30 and 2 pm. First, the Bodega. Closed Tuesdays. Next, the Pub at the Landmark, closed until later afternoon….Then Donckers. A 30 minute wait. Next door at the Delft. 30 minute wait…Lagniappe? No, 30-45 minute wait…Aubree’s? 20-30 minute wait.
Conclusion: A heavy influx of tourists and a severe manpower shortage don’t mix. Most of the restaurants have tables and seats available, but don’t have the personnel to service them. The Landmark is offering signing bonuses to new hires.
No such problem at Rotations, the tiny, take-out sandwich shop on Third Street downtown. (4.8 on Facebook, 4.9 on Google, 5.0 on Yelp). A one man operation. Until this week, the record number of sandwiches sold in a day was 75. Tuesday’s total? 150. Double the previous record….Musta been the folks who couldn’t get into the sit-down restaurants.
The Trenary Toast Café, with its opening slightly delayed, is missing out on some of the fun. ….Down the street, the former Washington Shoe Store now owned by Donckers, will open later this summer—a retail store at street level, a conference and banquet space on the second floor, and an expansion of the candy-making facility in the basement.
First impression of the proposed boutique hotel development at the Savings Bank building at Washington and Front Street? HUGE….As it stands now, it would include a 96 room boutique hotel, a 36 unit residence building, commercial space, and a 200 car parking garage…Yikes. We’re no anti-development tree-huggers here, but maybe this might be a bit too massive for Marquette’s cute, compact, lakeside downtown?
Oh, and diners at the Vierling and Elizabeth’s Chophouse wouldn’t be thrilled by the new structure which would obscure their currently panoramic views of the Lake…The proposal is not a done deal by any means. The public will have their say long before the first shovel hits the ground.
So what’s going on with the abandoned property and buildings which used to house the old hospital? Not much apparently….”I know there’s interest in it,” says Dennis Stachewicz, the city’s director of planning and community development, “but at this point, there’s no deal in the works.” He says his team meets regularly with hospital officials to gauge progress on the property.
More affordable housing in Marquette? Stachewicz says that’s a possibility with a large parcel of the Heartwood property that Veridea is planning to develop at the intersection of Division and McClellan…Duplexes? Triplexes?...Veridea, which has a proven track record for development, isn’t offering any details at this point…..But middle income earners can hope something comes of it.
There’s serious talk about Duluth being a “climate haven.” In other words, a place to which people, fed up with heat, drought, and fires in the West and South, might flee. A cooler climate up north, plenty of fresh water….Seems that Marquette would fit that bill, too.
And yet the latest census figures show only minimal growth for Marquette in the last decade. Apparently most people would rather deal with extreme heat and drought than five months of winter….Fine. Let ‘em stay where they are. And build their $500,000 tract homes on postage stamp lots.
You gotta feel for state senator Ed McBroom. A staunch conservative who headed up a committee that looked into election fraud in Michigan, and found none. Former President Trump has assailed his findings, friends have abandoned him, he’s gotten threats and nasty, late night phone calls.
“These are good people and they’re being lied to and they’re believing the lies,” McBroom says of his angry critics in an interview with Atlantic magazine. “And it’s really dangerous.” Amen.
If you long for yesteryear and your hair needs a trim, you might try Pete’s Barber Shop, just off of West Washington, not far from the old Shopko property. Haircuts there cost ten bucks. No fancy, scented shampoos and conditioners, no scalp massages. Just buzz, buzz, clip, clip…and you’re done. Next! It takes ten minutes for a good, clean, no-frills haircut with a friendly barber.
Kinda like Mayberry. You half-expect Andy and Barney to walk in and sit down next to you.