CHANGES AT THE Steinhaus Market.
Remodeling is now underway. A new bar and a stage have been installed giving the restaurant a casual, rustic look. In fact, the rough-hewn wood comes from a barn at the Dancing Crane Farm which Steinhaus purchased about a year ago.
The restaurant is going to become more of a music venue. Live music featured every Saturday night, and we could see more of it on other nights, as well.
Sundays, it remains closed except for special events.
Breakfasts, of course, were ended a few months back, and now Mondays and Tuesdays, they’ll be serving only quick, prepared food for people on the go.
Market conditions sometimes dictate changes.
So we’ve got new hours, a change in the menu offerings, and greater emphasis on music. With Coco’s recently ending its music offerings, it looks like Steinhaus Market is trying to fill that void.
SPEAKING OF CHANGES.
We could be seeing the beginnings of something huge, literally, on Third Street.
A downstate developer is sniffing around, inquiring about purchasing land near the corner of Third Street and West Fair…the Wells Fargo property, Johnsons Sport Shop, the Beacon House, BP Gas and other properties.
At least one property owner already has an offer on the table and is considering selling.
The plans, if they came to fruition, would call for a large–up to five story–mixed use building or buildings. As many as four buildings. Retail at the street level, an internal parking garage, and then offices and mid-price residential units on the upper levels.
The planned development seems a bit large, massive even, but a planning official says it would be in keeping with the Third Street corridor plan. In fact, the plan would call for a similar such development at the other end of The Village–say, around Ridge or Bluff.
If this plan came about, there’s little doubt that the feel of Third Street–small, independent businesses in widely varied, mostly one and two story buildings–would change. For better or worse? To be determined.
Again, nothing definite yet. Just sniffing around.
JANDRONS’ TWO STORES are leaving the Westwood Mall early next year.
It’s been a tough decision for the family-owned jewelers because they’ve been in the mall since 1989 but…they saw a new opportunity and they’re seizing it.
They’re going to build a “retail center” (otherwise known as a strip mall) on two acres of property they’ve just bought on County Road HQ, between the America Mall and the new Peak Fitness gym. They’ll open the store at their new location after Valentines Day, and they’ll also have space available for a couple of other interested retailers around the first of the year.
The Jandrons stores in the mall will stay open through Valentines Day.
So why the change? Well, first, they’ll own their new space, rather than leasing it. Second, it’ll be highly visible, in an area that looks destined for huge retail growth in the next few years. And third, sadly, as one of the family members put it, “Have you been to the mall lately?”
Nothing but the highest praise for the mall manager, Ellen Sargent, from the family member, but there’s little doubt that the Westwood Mall is struggling to attract and retain retailers and shoppers.
BIG DOINGS, MEANTIME, in Munising.
The city pier is being extended to accommodate more privately owned boats and, in particular, a new 250 seat catamaran for Pictured Rocks Cruises, due to arrive within a couple of weeks. It’ll be in operation next month, cruising through the water at twice the speed of their other boats.
Is there a demand for a new boat? Hell, yeah. Pictured Rocks Cruises business skyrocketed 39% last year. Thirty-nine percent. And this was after good, steady growth each of the previous seven years.
But it’s more than just the cruises. Visitors to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore jumped 37% last year.
Munising is finding itself in the middle of an explosive tourist boom, at least in the summer.
Why? Several reasons, likely including the final completion of H-58 from Grand Marais to Munising in 2013, the success of the Pure Michigan campaign, a Good Morning America story on Pictured Rocks last year, the Kid Rock video at Pictured Rocks a few years ago, the growing popularity of kayaking, and who knows what else.
A new, smallish hotel, the Roam Inn, is now under construction just off the highway, a new microbrewery is due to open in mid-summer, and Pictured Rocks Cruises will be opening up a new interpretive center and a couple of shops in a matter of months.
Oh, and the city’s Tourist Park campground is packed to capacity from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
A remarkable story. It seems only a matter of time before the big boys with the big money decide to move in and capitalize on the tourism boom. Munising, even with Lake Superior’s best natural harbor and a certain small town charm, still seems remarkably under-developed.
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ROOT 41 IS no more.
The cute, comfortable little restaurant in Beaver Grove south of Marquette closed down temporarily a few weeks ago with the promise that it would reopen within a few weeks but the word now is, it won’t reopen.
The precise reason for the closure is uncertain.
Too bad. It was a good little place to eat. A much-need neighborhood restaurant.
The Tullila sisters put their hearts and souls (and money) into Root 41 for the last two years, created a good restaurant with plenty of loyal customers but as many restaurateurs discover, it’s a tough business. Not many survive. Even fewer prosper.
WELL, IT’S BEEN confirmed.
The company behind the plans to build a wind farm in western Marquette and eastern Baraga counties is RES Americas, a subsidiary of the global energy company, Renewable Energy Systems.
Plans call for a 121 turbine, 150 megawatt complex. Huge.
RES is now completing its Deerfield wind project in the “Thumb” region of Michigan.
The UP plans were somewhat hush-hush but they were just confirmed by Midwest Energy News which got the records through the Freedom of Information Act.
A caveat to all this, however: The plans, as RES emphasizes, are strictly preliminary. The company is first making sure the wind farm would not encounter problems with aviation or transmission. If those hurdles are cleared, then they would go to the landowners and municipalities to seek approval for the plans.
WE DIDN’T KNOW “golfiness” was a word, but Michigan rates sixth among all states in golfiness. This, according to golf.com
And how is that determined? By the avidness of its golfers, by its quantity and quality of courses, by its golfing legacy and “vibe”, and by the subjective feelings of the author of this study.
Not strictly scientific, in other words.
Still, interesting.
The top five?
- Florida
- Arizona
- California
- South Carolina
- Ohio
In its summary of Michigan golf, the golf.com site has a few kind words about the Upper Peninsula:
“…the U.P. (Upper Peninsula), home to superb tracks like Sweetgrass, Greywalls and TimberStone, is one of America’s most underrated golf destinations.”
Still underrated, but each year it’s less so as golfers seeking new challenges decide to make the trek north.
You got news? Email briancabell@gmail.com