Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By MEGAN HUGHES
Ironwood — Gogebic Community College is looking at a major project coming in the near future, as the college’s board of trustees has given their go-ahead on a $3.1 million project to construct a new ski chalet once enough money has been raised for the self-funded project.
The Mr. Zion Ski Hill chalet building opened in 1970, later being moved in 1980 to accommodate the new chair lift. Since then, the chalet has remained much the same, but this is planned to change. Retired Ski Area Management director Jim VanderSpoel and GCC Foundation Executive Director Kelly Marczak spoke with the Globe in early June about their progress in planning a new ski chalet for the hill.
The ski chalet is no longer ADA compliant, according to Marczak, with a square footage of just over 1,500 square feet.
According to the Mt. Zion Campaign section on GCC’s website, the newly proposed building will be 7,500 square feet of ADA compliant space that will be available for year-long usage by the SAM and summer programs. The space will also be available for community use throughout the year.
The project would involve the re-routing of the road between the ski chalet and the main campus, according to plans, as the proposed location is further down the hill than where the current chalet is located.
The building will primarily be used as a ski chalet as well as the classroom space for the SAM program, according to Marczak. There are also plans to utilize the space for the continuing education program at the college, and off season education programs.
“It will obviously also be used for some of our other events, such as our snowmobile races,” said VanderSpoel. “One of the issues we have now is that we do not have enough space to hold national events, and we have opportunities to host them. This will give us space.” He went on to speak about how the space could also be used for weddings and community events. He estimates that the space could accommodate events for up to 250-300 people.
“We could see it as generating some revenue as a rental space,” said Marczak, “Weddings, banquets, even some events that the college wants to hold. There will be a full commercial kitchen there.”
When asked about when the project would be able to break ground, Marczak and VanderSpoel explained they are quite a ways away from that point.
“We can safely say there will be another ski season to be enjoyed at the current chalet,” said Marczak.
“In the absolute best case scenario, we may break ground next summer. Best case scenario,” said VanderSpoel, “This is not something that is going to happen overnight. It is a large amount of money to raise. The board has given approval to move forward but has also made it very clear that it has to be self-funded.”
VanderSpoel explained that the fundraising is partly done by donations by the community, but they are also seeking several grants that are available for these sorts of projects. ‘We are looking at a rec grant through the DNR,” he said.
“We are at the stage of pursuing our funding opportunities. Doing our due diligence and research as to what opportunities are available and how we can raise the money. It is a significant sum,” said Marczak. According to Marczak before they turn actively to seeking support from the community, they are going to seek other funding options.
The cost for the project was estimated using construction costs for the region, as well as regional costs for materials.
“The number could change slightly, but it is a fair estimate,” said VanderSpoel. “The 3.1 we are talking about isn’t just going into making the building, but also for the relocation of utilities, and all the other things that go into it. The building itself will be over $2 million, but not $3.1 million.”
At the time of the interview, Marczak said that they had just received their first donation toward that total cost, which she was quite excited about.
“Funding is going to be the biggest hurdle,” said Marczak, “We know what we want, and that there is a need in the community. Now we just have to match up that need with funding sources.”
For more information about the project, visit the GCC website: gogebic.edu.