Village of Calumet hosts meeting on 5th Street fire site, requests further community feedback

CALUMET, Mich. (WLUC) - It has been almost two years since a fire destroyed the majority of the 100 block on Calumet’s 5th street.

The Village of Calumet is continuing to request community feedback on redeveloping the site, which is currently owned by the Houghton County Landbank Authority (HCLBA). Both the village and the HCLBA control sale of the properties on the site.

The village held an input meeting in the Calumet Theater ballroom Monday night. Different ideas were shown to attendees based on feedback received since 2021.

Attendee feedback included wanting to keep the downtown aesthetic on what is constructed.

“The community feels strongly about the historical architecture and nature of the downtown district,” said Calumet Village Manager Megan Haselden. “So, they would like for the buildings to look fairly similar to what was there previously.”

The village is also soliciting requests for proposals (RFP) from architecture and engineering firms. They would create concept plans and renderings of what could be built.

According to the RFP, the site is envisioned to have commercial space below and residential space above. These designs would be crafted using public feedback and following village regulations.

“Then that document or documents, this series of designs, can go out into the community at large,” said Main Street Calumet Executive Director Leah Polzien. “And give a developer maybe some inspiration about what they could do with that property.”

Proposal submissions are due by 4:30 p.m. next Monday. Community members can also continue submitting feedback to the village until Sunday.

“Then the next step would be to attract developers to the project to see a building built,” added Polzien. “And we really don’t know when that part will happen, but these are the lead-ups to that.”

Read the RFP and visit the Block 100 Fire page on the village website.

Copyright 2023 WLUC. All rights reserved.