Escanaba’s House of Ludington undergoing renovation in hopes of revitalizing city

ESCANABA, Mich. (WLUC) - Kevin Chown is a successful musician born and raised in Escanaba.

After studying jazz in college, his career in rock and roll took him to Los Angeles, California.

Now, Chown has moved back to his hometown and is now curator and Director of Operations at the House of Ludington in Escanaba. The musician said he believed that he was hired in December for one major reason.

“I have a lot of knowledge of the place because this is my Neighborhood, this is where I grew up and this is like going back to my childhood,” said Chown. “I’ve always wanted a place here In Escanaba where I can take my outside world to different places.”

Chown also said they have been doing lots of renovation all inside the hotel in preparation for its grand re-opening on June 15.

The yooper also created the new Northern Lights Music Festival happening this July. Chown found a way to get musician Keith Urban to come and play at the festival.

“They wanted some new ideas, especially for some things to attract people to come to Escanaba and since music is kind of the roots of who I am,” said Chown. “This was an idea that I thought of to bring people to my hometown essentially.”

The Escanaba native said his goal is to show the outside world what Escanaba is all about and why people should visit. Chown noted that big music events like the festival are going to help create a new industry in the area that will create jobs.

“To generate financial wealth for the different businesses that are going to be a part of it and it’s something that’s going to fill hotel rooms,” said Chown. “It’s something that’s going to fill restaurants and there’s a major revitalization going on in Escanaba right now with the different building projects that are happening with downtown coming back to life.”

Chown said he’s going to continue to renovate the hotel to help make the city of Escanaba an even more popular vacation destination.

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