CALUMET — Village Council President Pro-Tem Pamela Que said that as of Apr. 18, all seats on all the boards and commissions in the village governance will be filled, something, she said, is crucial to the village moving forward. Those include: the Village Council, the Planning Commission, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Main Street Calumet, which is an economic development agency, and within the DDA, the Historic District Commission, and indirectly, the Calumet Theatre Co. Board of Directors. This also includes the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance (KEDA).

Que recently accepted a seat on the HDC, while Village Manager Megan Haselden joined the Calumet Theatre Board in Feb. greatly creating increased communication between the Village Council and both entities.

Que said one of the visions she has had since she was elected to the Village Council, then became president pro-tem, was to assist in coordinating the various village entities.

“If we can all communicate on the same initiatives, in the same direction, having the same goals, the same procedures, the same protocols,” said Que, “we will be able to grow.”

With all of the boards and commissions now full, said Que, they are filled with people who have the same interest and shared goal of revitalizing the village. The Apr. 20 public event, Meet the Developers, is a major ingredient of that goal by providing an opportunity for village entities, stakeholders and the public to meet and learn about the initiatives of the DDA, as well as those of Main Street Calumet.

“We’ll get to know what grants are being used,” she said, “what the people have on their minds going forward, what their needs are for their grants, what the Village Council can do, and I think it will also put us all on the same page. The reason why the Village Council is looking at this initiative, when we first had our initiative in Nov. when we had all the directors who were the key players of the up-and-coming and forward-going projects that are happening in Calumet, we brought all of them together and it was very nice for the public to get to meet them.”

Leah Polzien, executive director of MSC and chairwoman of the DDA, said she has seen a definate increase in coordination and cooperation.

“It’s just people talking,” she said, citing Que as the DDA’s HDC representative.

“The DDA’s HDC board is supposed to have someone appointed from the Village Council on that board,” said Polzien, “and I think in the past that was — yes, we had someone appointed, but that person did not come to the DDA meeting and tell us what was going on in the HDC. And that’s the purpose: to have that back-and-forth communication.”

Just one example of Calumet’s revitalization comes from an Apr. 6, 2023 statement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Office.

MCP Properties plans to renovate a vacant, historic, blighted building into a mixed-use development in downtown Calumet, the statement says. When completed, the project will include commercial space that will be leased to Frozen Farms, a locally owned cooperative meat market. The second story will contain two residential apartments.

The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $737,778 and create two full-time jobs as well as retain three full-time jobs, supported by a $324,000 Michigan Community Revitalization Program performance-based grant.

In addition to activating 2,850 square feet of long-vacant, blighted space, the project will restore a historic building in the heart of downtown Calumet, bringing much-needed housing and a new grocery option to the community. The project will bring new density and walkability to downtown Calumet and will act as a catalyst for additional investment in the area. The Calumet Downtown Development Authority is contributing $5,000 toward project costs. The village of Calumet is engaged with MEDC’s Redevelopment Ready Communities program.

“The MEDC Community Revitalization Program continues to help us make a difference in bringing back Calumet one building at a time,” Jeff Ratcliffe, executive director of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance is quoted as saying in the statement. “This project will return some original character to a blighted, historic building that was removed decades ago, add badly needed middle market housing, and support the expansion of a thriving downtown business.”