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In 2016 Calumet’s leadership and village stakeholders started the Build Back Calumet initiative. The goal was to tackle the village’s challenges and to protect the historic atmosphere within Calumet. Now, much of that hard work has paid off, after the Build Back Calumet initiative was recognized by the State Historic Preservation Office for the 2023 Governor’s Awards for Historic Preservation. Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance Executive Director Jeff Ratcliffe says that there have been many individuals involved in raising Calumet and revitalizing the downtown.
“The challenges the village faced both in terms of its governance and its deteriorating building stock. And we realized that the area that we all could work on together, and probably was the most important was to hold onto the building stock. Now the result of the initiative as well as holding onto properties that were going through foreclosure. We’ve stabilized those structures. But we’ve also been working toward redevelopment of those properties.” – Jeff Ratcliffe, Executive Director, Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance
One of the most impactful groups involved with the initiative says Ratcliffe, has been the main street calumet. When the initiative was first started it was difficult to get everyone rowing in the same direction. However, through Main Street Calumet the village has been able to engage residents more often in making decisions about Calumet’s future.
“Working with Leah, she was able to pull a lot of folks together. We held, a couple of years before the pandemic, we held some update meetings. And those meetings have been very well received. And we held another one earlier this year, again very well received. And I think what we found is that there are a lot of people, not just in Calumet, but also outside of its boundaries that want to see the village come back. ” – Jeff Ratcliffe, Executive Director, Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance
The Houghton County Land Bank has also made many contributions to the initiative through its ability to take on structures with little to no value right now.
“The Houghton County land bank authority. The past treasurer Kathy Beatty and current county treasurer Lisa Matilla are important in leadership. And using and bringing to bear the Land Bank Authority’s ability to pull these buildings out of the foreclosure process. And to work with all of us to get these buildings stabilized. So that we can eventually find a developer for them. And so with that came recognition that if you lose an old building, in a downtown like that. They’re gone forever and you’ll never get it back.” – Jeff Ratcliffe, Executive Director, Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance
The Build Back Calumet initiative isn’t done yet. That’s because KEDA, village leadership, The Houghton County Land Bank, and leadership with the Keweenaw National Historic Park know the importance of historic preservation and redevelopment to residents. The Governor’s Awards for Historic Preservation in 20224 also recognized communities in Hamtramack, Lake Huron, and Grand Rapids for their efforts in preservation and redevelopment. Find more about the Build Back Calumet initiative and the state historic presentation office’s governor’s 2023 preservation awards here.
