KINGSFORD — Kingsford’s centennial celebration — three days of live music, food and more at Lodal Park — ended with Ann Wilson of Heart’s performance late Saturday.

How the event did in terms of crowds and revenue remains to be tallied, though early indications point to a very successful run aided by near-perfect weather.

With Kingsford concluding roughly two years of centennial plans, two longtime city officials were asked what they think the next 100 years might bring.

Mayor Joe Groeneveld has been on the city council for at least a decade, with about four one-year terms as mayor. Dennis Baldinelli is mayor pro-tem, serving when Groeneveld is not available, but has been a council member for 22 years and mayor seven times.

Both offered the caveat that it’s difficult to predict Kingsford’s long-term future, given the changes already seen in its first 100 years.

Kingsford, after all, started as a community built around a Ford Motor Co. plant that flourished in the 1920s to 1940s before being closed in 1951.

“In 1923, I’m pretty sure the Ford Motor Company thought they’d still be here,” Baldinelli said.

Losing its main manufacturer less than 30 years after its founding demonstrated Kingsford’s resilience, Groeneveld said.

“It’s like anything else — when something comes up, we deal with it, we keep up with it,” Groeneveld said. “Basically, we’re going to adapt.”

Kingsford, for the most part, came into being when Henry Ford and Edward Kingsford in 1920 looked to establish a Ford Motor Co. sawmill and parts plant that could tap into the iron and wood resources available in the Upper Peninsula. Employment at the plant would reach 7,500 by 1925.

Chartered on Dec. 29, 1923, the village of Kingsford grew as plant workers needed housing.

The city charter came Aug. 7, 1947.

Kingsford High School, established in December 1925, still maintains the Flivvers nickname, with the Ford vehicle as its logo.

Yet Ford Co. would shut down that plant in 1951, with Kingsford Chemical Co. — which took over production of the famous charcoal briquettes — following suit a decade later. More recently, waste equipment manufacturer Lodal Inc. closed up shop in 2021.

Yet Kingsford still has an industrial base that includes Grede Foundry, Kingsford Broach & Tool Inc., Eagle Tool Co. and Trident Maritime Systems, formerly Lake Shore Systems Inc., Baldinelli noted.

They are always looking to bring more smaller manufacturers into Kingsford, Groeneveld said. Space is available in the industrial area, he pointed out, and they have several programs that may be able to assist businesses in getting established in the city.

Baldinelli expects Kingsford will remain “somewhat blue collar” in the future.

After falling from a peak of 5,500 in 2000 to 5,121 in 2010, Kingsford’s population has remained fairly stable over the past decade at that 5,100-plus level, according to U.S. Census figures.

Breitung Township Schools, centered in Kingsford, has the largest enrollment of any district in Dickinson and Iron counties at about 1,900 students. “We still have good schools,” Baldinelli said.

To keep the city able to accommodate residential and commercial needs, Kingsford maintains a five-year capital improvement plan to guide its projects at least a half-decade in advance, Groeneveld said.

“We had to make changes and move on with the times, just like anybody else,” he said.

(Jim Paul/Daily News photo) Bill Behrend of Menominee displays his 1930 Ford Model A “Woody” wagon, which he bought 63 years ago when he was 13. Kingsford’s centennial celebration included a “Woodward Cruise” on Saturday morning, followed by a car show at Venue 906.

The city is readying for the $8.3 million Kingsford Heights water project that includes swapping out about 244 lead service lines to homes with copper pipes, along with replacing nearly 13,000 feet of existing galvanized water main. Some of the pipes date back to Kingsford’s founding a century ago.

The project also will install hydrants and resurface streets. Much of the work is being financed through a 40-year low-interest Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan, set up after the Flint water crisis, plus an American Rescue Plan State Revolving Fund grant that is federal money channeled through the state.

More water system work is anticipated in the Ford Addition area as well, Groeneveld said.

Kingsford has completely switched to LED streetlights, which should save the city money, he said.

For the future, Baldinelli would like to see the last remnants of the former Ford plant taken down and the area redeveloped as a brownfield project.

Both men also hope the city can build its retail business ranks as well. The past decade saw the Birchwood Mall shut down, along with Shopko, both of which had anchored the city’s main retail core on Carpenter Avenue. Earlier, Kmart had shifted from Kingsford to Iron Mountain, though that site, too, closed in 2014.

Unlike that still-empty Kmart site in Iron Mountain, Kingsford has seen other businesses move into the former mall and Shopko buildings, Midway Rentals and Sales and the Ride North dealership, respectively.

The former Kmart store was replaced by Ace Hardware and NAPA Auto Parts.

Still, the city lacks the small shops that have recently sprung up in downtown Iron Mountain as the mall models faded, Groeneveld acknowledged.

That might signal a different retail role in the future for Kingsford, he said — one that recognizes the city has space for larger retail items, such as the array of RVs at Ride North or construction equipment at Midway Rentals and Sales, while the smaller shops settle in Iron Mountain. The two cities can complement each other in that respect rather than compete, Groeneveld said.

“Just to be able to keep the services for our people … provide as much as we can for our citizens,” Groeneveld said, noting Iron Mountain is “only two miles away.”

Both mentioned the addition of Kwik Trip, now under construction on Carpenter Avenue and expected to open in October, giving Kingsford a second gas station as well as a convenience store.

They’d welcome more specialty retail stores in the future, they said.

“I like to think we’re a business-friendly council,” Baldinelli said.