SAWYER -- In the mid-'90s, it was a booming military community of 15,000-plus. However, when the federal government decided to close the K.I. Sawyer Air Force base, the community campaigned to keep it open. But the base shut down over a period of time, and away went the military, their families, and arguably the biggest component of Marquette County's economy.
The county acquired almost all of the 4900-acre property and over time made improvements. And with the addition of the airport and the sale of residential neighborhoods to developers, it seemed that the community could once again thrive.
Time and time again, though, negative issues--such as crime, poor housing, even gangs--ended up getting press coverage.
"Certainly Sawyer, as a former military base, K.I. Sawyer has an outstanding heritage, and what it's accomplished for our country and for the area, but unfortunately it's no longer a military base, it's a community of people living here," says Bob Struck, a resident of West Branch Township and co-founder of the Sawyer Community Alliance.
And for the 3500 people that now live on the former base, they'd had enough of the negative publicity.
The Sawyer Community Alliance meets at Tailwinds Grill & Bar the first Monday of every month, and in the two years since forming, the community action group has made some serious progress in turning the former K.I. Sawyer base into a community all its own. This group of residents, officials, developers, and other people from the county, took matters into their own hands. And so far, it seems to be working.
"What we've seen is even though the talk about the economy's going down, we've seen our numbers grow, we've seen the population of Sawyer grow," says Scott Bammert, manager of development company Macasu Inc. "We have a good mix of retired people moving here, your families just starting out, college students, so we're very happy with the good mix of residents."
When they first formed, the group identified about 15 key areas that needed improvement. Among them: police availability, vacant buildings, community development, and the re-opening of the 'W.' Closed about a year and a half ago, the 55,000 square foot community facility needs money to reopen. It costs about $400,000 a year to operate, but that could be reduced with energy efficiency renovations.
That's one of the Alliance's top priorities now.
"It brings in people into the community as well as meeting the needs of those people in the community," says Lisa Johnson, CEO of Community Hand-Up, the group spearheading the project to get the building open again. "Keeping a business viable makes other businesses more viable, it increases property value, it gives people a reason to want to live in an area, and we really are talking about the whole Marquette County area."
In its short existence, the Alliance has already started redefining Sawyer.
"It has a reputation, whether deserved or undeserved, and it's important that people respect Sawyer, just as they respect every other community in the Upper Peninsula, it belongs here," Struck adds.
And it'll stay and transform itself into a dynamic and attractive community, with positive press coverage, if the Alliance has anything to say about it.
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