By CHRISTIE BLECK

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — The proposed Dark Sky Park on Presque Isle still has life.

The Marquette Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Monday approved a proposal for a trial period, from the time the Marquette City Commission would approve it through Nov. 1.

The trial period would involve closing the gates at the Gazebo and Pavilion at 11 p.m., turning off all lights at the Pavilion and closing the main park gate near the boat launch at 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.

Jon Swenson, assistant director of community services, noted that on all other nights, the park would close at the normal 11 p.m. hour that all parks are closed.

The public is not allowed in public parks after they are closed, he stressed.

“There is a misconception that you can still be in parks after closing,” Swenson said in an email.

This proposal will go to the Presque Isle Park Advisory Committee at its Aug. 9 meeting, and to the City Commission after that if approved.

Making the original proposal was the Marquette Astronomical Society, which had appealed to PIPAC for many months for the Dark Sky Park. However, city concerns over possible dangers had thwarted its efforts.

“This is a very watered-down version of what we proposed last summer, but the trial period should prove that Dark Sky Parks are not dangerous nor do they encourage vandalism,” MAS member Larry Buege said in an email. “Downstate Dark Sky Parks do not have these problems. During the last 25 years, six people have died on the east side of the park and none on the west side where we hope to establish a more permanent Dark Sky Park.”

Buege is familiar with astronomical phenomena, whose viewing is expected to improve with such a park.

“For reasons still unknown, Northern Lights occur more frequently in spring and fall,” Buege said. “If they occur on a weekend in October, the Dark Sky Park should draw people away from the more dangerous cliffs and Black Rocks areas on the east side of the park.”

At the Monday meeting, Buege gave the board a handout containing language that divided Presque Isle — which he noted is mistakenly viewed as being a large homogenous area when it actually has a widely diverse topography — into four zones.

He also mentioned Presque Isle user groups, with aurora watchers the largest group of night sky observers. Using internet resources, they are notified by phone when the sky is clear and an aurora is predicted.

“Cell phones immediately go into afterburner, and in 20 minutes, 50 to 100 or more people can converge on Presque Isle,” he said.

The smallest group would be “alcoholic party animals, vandalizers and other misfits,” he noted.

Buege pointed out that downstate Dark Sky Parks have not seen an increase in inappropriate behavior.

“Party animals like privacy and at least some light,” Buege said. “It is difficult to open a bottle of beer when you can’t find the bottle opener in the dark.”

In his summary, Buege said the “big question” is not whether a Dark Sky Park would be dangerous but whether it would be a safer alternative to the current arrangement.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.