CALUMET – The Swedetown Trails Club and Calumet Township are working together to create the area’s only universally accessible recreation and adaptive sports facility, and update and expand the Swedetown Chalet. This project will be fulfilled through the anticipated success of a crowdfunding campaign that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the nonprofit Swedetown Trails Club announced today, which is being offered through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity.  

If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 by Aug. 20, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places program. This project is utilizing the PSCP Universal Design and Accessibility Funding Extension to access funding for existing public spaces that are creating universal design and accessibility in their space. For project details and to donate, please visit: patronicity.com/chalet. 

“The Swedetown Chalet becoming universally accessible will welcome new users to the recreation space and the surrounding trails,” said MEDC Regional Development Managing Director Paula Holtz. “We are pleased to provide resources for this effort through our Public Spaces Community Places program.” 

This project addresses the need for a barrier-free facility that meets universal design standards and is accessible to all members of the Calumet community and the greater Keweenaw Peninsula. Many of the Swedetown ski trails are already appropriate for para-athletes. The Two Hoots universally accessible two-mile trail, completed last summer, provides an opportunity for those in wheelchairs, as well as families with strollers, or children learning how to mountain bike. The renovated chalet will complete this project by providing gathering areas and restrooms accessible to all.