Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
The revitalization of Calumet is underway, as demonstrated by the renovation work being done on the old Curto Building on Portland Street.
The Bring Back Calumet Task Force gathered outside the building Thursday to celebrate the first in what they hope will be many projects to restore dilapidated buildings in the downtown area.
The task force consists of local municipal and business organizations who are working together to make Calumet attractive to businesses and spur economic growth.
The Curto Building project was made possible by a $33,000 grant from the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority.
The entire cost of the project is around $40,000, and a $5,000 donation from River Valley Bank is helping them reach their goal.
River Valley Bank Market Manager Lea Dziesinski said, “River Valley is really proud to be a part of this project with Main Street Calumet and supporting economic revitalization within our community and especially looking at historic preservation and what that means for the downtown right now, the next three months, what it’s going to look like then, in six months and years to come.”
Executive Director of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance Jeff Ratcliffe said another $2,500 came from Main Street Calumet, so the cost of the Curto Building is funded, allowing them to look at future restoration projects in the city.
Ratcliffe said, “We’re going to keep going after the grant dollars, raising the local match dollars to leverage those grant dollars and just keep working towards stabilizing buildings, and at the same time, looking for viable developers, viable projects to go into these buildings and then get the investments needed to really bring them back to life.”
The Curto Building restoration is expected to be completed this fall.
