What's next for Sault Ste. Marie?

"I don't know why the heck they built that parking garage downtown, we don't need one!" Comments like this greeted the construction of a three story parking garage in the heart of Sault Ste. Marie about three years ago. Today, you're a little hard pressed to find a place to park in the structure, at least during the weekdays. The second floor of the sandstone structure features a skywalk leading to War Memorial Hospital across the street.

 

Sault Ste. Marie, more fondly referred to as "the Soo," has come a long way since Montgomery Ward's and F. W. Woolworth's were the downtown anchor stores. These stores vanished in the early 80's as a result of the sprawl of businesses that formed out on the I-75 business spur.

 

You might think this is a story of another downtown that went bust, but it isn't. Since the carpet was pulled out from under them in the sprawl of the 80's, the Soo's downtown has reinvented itself. Today, the downtown is a business, medical, and entertainment hub with retail stores, an art center, some loft type housing, and restaurants to support a remarkable cast of 199 businesses that call the downtown home.

 

So what's next for the Soo?

 

There appears to be a nice patch of blue sky on the horizon. For starters, the downtown should get a makeover of sorts thanks to matching federal funds for facade improvement. Store owners are committed to doing what they can to make their places of business more appealing to locals and visitors alike.

 

"After two years of being here, I see this as the biggest room for improvement," says Justin Knepper, manager for the city's Downtown Development Authority. "The most important aspect of the Soo is our history," says Knepper. He says the face of the downtown should reflect that.

 

Knepper says it is particularly important to get any vacant buildings downtown occupied. He says just one or two vacant businesses create the impression the downtown is failing, when in fact that's not the case in Sault Ste. Marie. He says he would also like to see more upstairs dwellings in the downtown area turned into apartments or at least fixed up to the point that they look like they're inhabited. He says when tourists look down the street and see boarded up windows on the second floor of a business, they are less inclined to walk in that direction.

 

In fact, much is happening in the Soo. War Memorial Hospital has spent millions of dollars in the last several years renovating and updating the hospital, including construction of a new emergency room, which should be completed in the spring of 2014. Knepper says the hospital is also partnering with Lake Superior State University to create a nursing training center across from the hospital which would bring 100 students downtown and a 1.5 million dollar investment in rehabbing another downtown structure. He says he hopes to see this happen no later than the fall of 2014.

 

Retail and other businesses are continuing to take up residence downtown. Knepper says business-minded folks are much more likely to invest in a downtown structure in good shape than one that is outdated. This has been the case recently where three new businesses--20 Below Gallery & Gifts, Raymond James Midwest Wealth Strategies, and Salon C, an upscale salon--moved into buildings that looked good inside and out.

 

At least one entrepreneur is ready to invest, or re-invest, in the city's downtown. Ray Bauer, city commissioner, owner of Soo Brewery, and unofficial cheerleader for the Soo, apparently sees much brewing, or perhaps bubbling in the Soo. He's knee deep into plans to open a winery when he purchases the Corner Pub, a former bar that sits on the corner of Ashmun and Portage. The upscale winery will be located just a block away from the Soo Locks and across the street from a very busy farmer's market and upscale gift shop, Island Books & Crafts.

 

Bauer says he'll use some matching state money to create a very attractive storefront. Inside, patrons will be able to sip and buy locally produced wine and perhaps even grab a bite to eat, since the current pub has facilities for cooking, though Bauer stressed it won't be a restaurant per se.

 

Kristin Claus, executive director of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation, says the economic climate has improved and pointed to one case in point, AMI Hose, a parts supplier for the automatic industry, that will open soon and employ 35 to 40 people and likely create spin-off jobs. 

 

"Interest in the area by businesses has picked up," asserts Claus. She says at least two businesses are interested in moving into the recently completed Smart Zone incubator building, though she says it is too early to give out specifics of what those businesses will be.

 

Despite the cold winter temperatures of late, Stephanie Kisner is warming to her relatively new position as the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. She says the chamber will be focusing more on their members like they used to and will go back to listing member businesses in a Soo Evening News directory. 

 

What's next for the Soo, according to Kisner, is the continuation of some very successful events that bolster the city, like the Sault Area Chamber Chase and International Bridge Walk.

 

She also pointed to a healthy business climate. For example, Erickson's Furniture and Appliance, a business that has been in the city for decades, bought out Shunk's Furniture, which had likewise been around a long time. The new store is an Art Van Furniture store, which Kisner says will continue to give locals a chance to make large purchases for their homes without leaving town. She also pointed to a building currently being built on the business spur which will most likely be an auto parts store. She said the chamber has also added fresh blood into the mix with three new board members. 

 

Cities evolve and change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. In the case of Sault Ste. Marie things have gone full circle to some degree. The downtown has seen a definite revival and will continue to be something to watch change and grow in the years ahead as new businesses come in and old ones make improvements inside and out. 

 

What's next for Sault Ste. Marie, hopefully, will be economic growth spurred on by more people moving to the downtown area, making it a vibrant, mixed commercial and residential community.

 

"I'd like to see two buildings each year for the next several years offer housing options," says the DDA's Knepper.