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Design ideas delivered

ISHPEMING — Representatives of the Michigan State University Sustainable Built Environment Initiative on Thursday made its final presentation for proposed uses of Lake Bancroft Park, adjacent property belonging to the city of Ishpeming and the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum.

The meeting was the last of three phases of the graphic visioning session for the area.

The proposed design would incorporate a gateway sign and welcoming plaza, playground, pavilion, veterans memorial, and a boardwalk with scenic overlooks on Lake Bancroft.

The process began with a community visioning session in May where participants were encouraged to share ideas for sustainable use of the area, which is also a trailhead for the Iron Ore Heritage Trail.

SBEI director Wayne Beyea, said the team processed hundreds of resident comments during the summer culminating in a second input session where the public was able to view preliminary design ideas and provide feedback on design alternatives in August.

“We want to provide you with the best practices and the scope of moving forward,” Beyea said. “That’s really what the purpose of this is.”

City Manager Mark Slown said the MSU SBEI was able to inspire ideas for the area, and now it is up to the residents of Ishpeming to decide how to act on them.

“Ultimately its up to the community what vision they want to see take place here. MSU provided us with some ideas and inspiration for that,” Slown said.

Associate Professor Emeritus in the MSU School of Planning Design and Construction Warren Rauhe said the SBEI team considered several key elements including the sustainability of the design and connectivity to the surrounding area, highlighting Lake Bancroft and the Iron Ore Heritage Trail network.

Rauhe said the visioning session respondents also expressed a desire that the area be designed for year-round opportunities, be family-oriented, and hold opportunities for all ages and abilities — especially youth.

He stressed the importance of integrating the Cliffs Shaft property and the city property into one cohesive design.

“I realize there are two different property owners here, but please don’t — even if you don’t mean to — put up a barrier or a fence here. You want people who visit the site to walk through it and appreciate it,” Rauhe said.

Beyea said that part of the process involved doing a case study into similar situations worldwide in which municipalities were repurposing abandoned industrial facilities.

One such case was the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen Germany.

Beyea said the defunct mine has become a regional symbol and serves as a multi-use museum and urban park, providing a number of recreational opportunities and amenities including bike paths throughout the grounds.

Slown said progress has been made on two of the elements in the MSU SBEI design suggestions.

In April 2015, the Ishpeming Downtown Development Authority received a $250,000 grant from the Marquette County Community Fund, a joint legacy charitable fund between Cliffs Natural Resources and Eagle Mine, for constructing a pavilion for public use on the corner of Spruce and Euclid streets in conjunction with the property at Lake Bancroft Park.

The $7,500 cost of applying for the SBEI planning assistance was spilt three ways between the Iron Ore Heritage Trail, Ishpeming’s DDA and the city of Ishpeming.

“The pavilion is going to happen, I am confident of that,” Slown said. “The city is going to take steps to hire a firm to come up with a design for it.”

Plans for the veterans monument are also moving forward, Slown said, with sponsorship from the Marquette County Veterans Alliance.

“I am confident that together we can get the funding to make that happen, because the veterans alliance is a regional group,” Slown said.

Slown said the Cliffs Shaft Museum, even though it is a focal point of Ishpeming’s cultural heritage, faces some significant challenges, so he has reached out to the state of Michigan for some help via the Project Empire initiative.

“We have these wonderful historic buildings that are actually historical treasures. There is not money to maintain them, we need some help with that,” Slown said.

“I don’t know if we will get help, it’s just a voice calling in the wilderness saying we need help to preserve these great buildings, not only for us, but for everyone because this is part of America’s cultural heritage.”

The design concepts presented by MSU SBEI, Slown said, mark early steps in a long process.

“Somebody once said ‘How do you eat an elephant — one bite at a time,” Slown said. “You know maybe we took a couple of bites out of the elephant tonight. But there is still is a lot of work to do, a lot of planning and thinking. We have to reinvent ourselves, and that is really what this is all about.”

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. Her email address is lbowers@miningjournal.net.

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