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The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge will open for the 2017 season.
At a special meeting Wednesday…the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to fund the Copper Harbor resort, which could cost around $200,000 for the year.
Over 200 people packed the room at Horizons Alternative High School in Mohawk for this very important issue.
Board Chair Don Piche said, “I don’t think a lot of the people really realized the debt that that Mountain Lodge has. It’s a hug, huge problem and we have Rural Development on our backs and we still don’t know what’s going to become of that at this time.”
Though most of the people who spoke at the meeting were in favor of keeping the lodge open, not everyone was happy with the board’s decision.
Mohawk resident Tom Daly said, “It just keeps going down the hill. I hate to see that happen but sometimes it’s a waste of money to try a get a business to work the way you want to and, at that time, I believe you have to shut it down.”
Many residents want to see the lodge turned over to a management company and out of county control.
Mohawk resident Jack Sprietzer said, “Government boards should not be in the lodge business. That’s my gripe. I don’t have problem with the lodge, but it should be a privately-owned entity.
The Lodge owes over $2 million to Rural Development and hasn’t made a payment on the loan since 2013.
The Lodge lost $164,000 this year alone.
The county has supported the Lodge with more than $700,000 from the general fund in the last ten years.
The county board will meet on December 13th to decide what to do next.
The Lodge will reopen in the Spring, but they’ll need to decide if it will be business as usual or they will downsize the resort to try and save money.
