2012

ALSOINSIDE

Checker Cab ofMarquetteOffers buses and limos

PAGE 2F

Food Co-opMoving to a new location

PAGE 3F

Marq-Tran hubstationShould be ready for business this summer

PAGE 4F

DonckersNow taking orders online

PAGE 4F

Wendy’s of MarquetteHas a new grill

PAGE 5F

Everyday WinesGoes for quality and price

PAGE 6F

Horizon Health Functional neurology

PAGE 7F

Downtown DevelopmentAuthorityNow to encompass ThirdStreet

PAGE 8F

CITY DEVELOPMENT — SECTION F-1MONDAY, MARCH 26

PROGRESSA SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL

By JACKIE STARKJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Creative design agencyElegant Seagulls found a new location lastyear, moving from its old offices on FrontStreet to a larger, more visible space in theheart of downtown Marquette.

The new office is located at 100 N. ThirdSt.

According to owner and creative directorBen Johnson, the new space has allowedfor the business to grow in square feet aswell as in employees, with the addition ofa new marketing director into the fold.

“We were talking about hiring a new em-ployee, but we just didn’t have the space toput someone in,” Johnson said. “It’s (themove) offered us a lot of freedom to keepexpanding, and it gets to solidify our place

in Marquette. People walk in and they seeus, they’ve never heard of us before. Walk-ing or drive by traffic has actually transi-tioned into some business.”

Johnson said the new space has morethan enough room to house himself and thefour other employees who now work there.

“I’d been looking for a while to find a loca-tion with some street visibility and also aplace to grow into,” Johnson said. “Wewere pretty much bursting at the seam. Myintern was at this little, teeny-tiny desk inthe corner.”

Along with the new space, the businesshas also expanded its services, branchingout into a full-blown creative design agencythat not only creates web sites, but also de-signs packaging for products and offersmarketing and branding services to its

clients as well.“It’s really just freed us up creatively and

help us keep growing,” Johnson said,adding that he was excited to move forwardwith the business. “My favorite projects arethe ones where we work on everything, onall aspects of the project.”

Elegant Seagulls has worked with clientsfrom all across the United States as well asabroad, helping companies create sleekand functional websites and packaging.

For more information on the business, orto see examples of projects the companyhas completed, visit www.elegantseag-ulls.com

Jackie Stark can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. Her email address is js-tark@miningjournal.net.

Elegant SeagullsWeb design firm on the move

From left to right, Gene Ross website developer,Ben Johnson Creative director and Chad Casperwebsite designer. (Journal photo by Matthew Keiser)

By STEVE BROWNLEEJournal Sports Staff

MARQUETTE — Thecabs aren’t black-and-white checkerboard-col-ored anymore.

In fact, today the majori-ty of them aren’t evencabs.

But the Checker Cabmoniker may always stickwith what is now moreproperly called CheckerTransport, Checker Busand Marquette Limo.

It illustrates how thistransportation-for-hire ser-vice has grown andbranched out in just overfour years since JesseSchramm became theowner and general man-ager and Jeff LaValley thesales manager.

“We had three part-timers when we started inJanuary 2008,” Schrammsaid. “Now we have 38employees.

“We had cabs back in'08, then purchased ourfirst buses in July 2010.Now we have an 11-busfleet.”

The fleet, based out of agarage and lot in Mar-quette Township, will actu-ally become 11 this sum-mer with the addition ofthree vehicles betweennow and then, each seat-ing between 13 and 56people.

The company also has10 cabs — passenger carsedans — and three limo-suines, including a Hum-mer and a pink LincolnTown Car that may be thecompany’s highest-profilevehicle.

“‘Pinky’ has been on theice at Northern (MichiganUniversity hockey games),it’s been used for cancerbenefits and ladies nightsand shopping nights dur-ing the holiday season,”LaValley said.

Those are just a few ofthe services and charita-ble events that CheckerTransport has contributedits vehicles, as LaValley

thumbed through a listthat included at least twodozen just during the pastsix months.

He rattled off Make AWish, Shop with the Copfor less privileged children,the Marquette Blues Fest,Art on the Rocks, the Bea-con House golf outing andeven transport toChatham and GrandMarais for volunteers inthe U.P. 200 and MidnightRun sled dog races.

“It amazing how much itmakes events easier forthose involved with them,”LaValley said. “For exam-ple, it relieves congestionon the streets and in park-ing lots compared to whatwould happen if everyoneused their own vehicles.”

With the bus “fleet” con-sisting of just one vehiclebarely a year ago,Schramm was eager toshow off several examplesof these new transporters.

“We’ve had a number ofathletic teams and evenschools contract with us,”Schramm said about thebuses, which also drawfans attending big athleticevents, business groups,children’s programs, grad-uation and wedding par-ties.

LaValley mentioned howthe Marquette Electricianshigh-school-age hockeyteam had an emergencywhen its team bus brokedown at the start of a trip.

“They called us and wewere able to provide themwith one of our buses with-in 45 minutes and we hadit loaded and ready to goin about an hour,” he said.

One of the larger buses,a 41-passenger model,features just two leatherseats on each side of themiddle aisle, and theseseats recline, have arm

rests and an overheadreading light, and evenshift a few inches laterallytoward the aisle to givemore width to those whoneed it.

“And every bus seat onthis one has seat belts,even though they’re notrequired by the federalgovernment, at least notyet,” Schramm noted.

This bus also has five TVscreens, much like youmight see on an airplane,

for watching movies orvideos, and a bathroom inthe back.

And don’t forget the stor-age — there are racksabove the seats for small-er cargo, storage area inthe back of the bus and alarge stowaway compart-ment underneath theseats accessible from theoutside.

The front overhead areaabove the driver was fittedwith a window so passen-

gers could see what wasahead of them, and forsafety’s sake, the bus hasthree outside cameras,two on the front sides andone in back, that are acti-vated when the bus is putinto reverse or either left orright turn signal is used.

Steve Brownlee can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 246. His email addressis sbrownlee@miningjour-nal.net

2F -— The Mining Journal Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

Checker Cab offersbuses and limos too

They called us and we wereable to provide them withone of our buses within 45minutes and we had it load-ed and ready to go in aboutan hour.

“

- JEFF LAVALLEYChecker Transport sales manager

”

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Owner and general manager Jesse Schram, left, and sales manager Jeff LaValley flank the logo on one of Check-er Transport's buses outside its garage in Marquette Township. (Journal photo by Steve Brownlee)

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE —TheMarquette Food Co-opwill begin to ready itsnew home in just a fewmonths.

On Feb. 10, the co-opboard finalized agree-ments to purchase thebuildings at both 500 and502 W. Washington St.

Though the idea of ex-pansion has existed foryears, General ManagerMatt Gougeon and hisstaff began discussing itpublicly last year.

He said the co-opmembers — of whichthere are 3,000 — madeclear requests for a num-ber of things they wouldlike to see in a new store.The list included moreparking, increased retailspace and an environ-mentally friendly opera-tion. They wanted morelocal products and moreoutreach programming.

The board initiallylooked into only purchas-ing the large building at502 W. Washington,which will become thenew co-op. Soon, a co-operative that beganmore than 40 years agoas nothing more than asmall food-buying club

will have about 8,000square feet of retailspace, nearly triple whatis currently enjoyed atthe Baraga Avenue loca-tion. A large basementwill serve as communityrooms, meeting roomsand offices.

When the group begandiscussing how to work afunctioning kitchen anddeli into their plans, at-tention turned to a near-by building.

“It occurred to us soonafter we began to pursue502 that there was thisnice little kitchen rightnext door,” Gougeonsaid. “Our membershiphas been very clear thatthey want a deli in thenew co-op, so wethought, ‘Why build anew kitchen, when thereis one right next door?’”

That building, whichcontains a commercialkitchen will not be usedas a retail location, butwill be used to supplyfresh food to the co-opshelves. Gougeon saidhe hoped to gain city per-mission to connect thetwo buildings in the fu-ture.

He also expressedhope at getting the deliup and running as soon

as possible.Gougeon said con-

struction should begin inJune and he hopes theco-op will move in latewinter or early spring of2013.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. His emailaddress iskwhitney@miningjour-nal.net.

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4F — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

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By KYLEWHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE —Though construction onthe Marquette CountyTransit Authority’s $1.2million downtown trans-fer station halted for thewinter in early January,the station should stillbe up and running bysummer.

Construction on thebuilding, located at thenortheast corner of theintersection at Third andSpring streets, ceasedon Jan. 2 and is set toresume April 2, accord-ing to Marq-Tran Execu-tive Director DelynnKlein. The anticipateddate of completion forthe project is June 29,2012.

The new 1,500-square-foot transfer sta-tion will include an in-door seating area, an of-

fice space and re-strooms. The station willreplace the one current-ly located along BluffStreet.

When Marq-Tran relo-cated its main officefrom Spring Street toCommerce Drive in2005, it continued to uti-lize its previous locationas a transfer station. In2006, that building wassold to the MarquetteCounty Historical Soci-ety, and a site along thesouth side of Bluff wasselected as a temporarystation.

“(The new station) willbe better for the passen-gers,” Klein said. “Theywill not be out in the ele-ments like they are nowup on Bluff Street.”

The construction of adowntown transfer sta-tion has always been inthe cards, according to

Klein.“When we moved out

into the township, weknew there would be aneed for a transfer cen-ter downtown.”

Work on the transferstation began in mid-September.

Two buses will stop atthe station every 30 min-utes, while the bus to KISawyer will stop everyhour. The bus runningbetween Marquette andMunising will stop dailyduring the week.

The inter-city IndianTrails buses will still de-part from Marq-Tran’sCommerce Drive loca-tion.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. His emailaddress iskwhitney@miningjour-nal.net.

Work on the new Marq-Tran bus transfer station in Marquette is scheduled to be-gin in April 2012. (Journal file photos)

Marq-Tran’s downtownhub should be readythis summer

Donckers nowtaking online orders

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE —Thanks to a new techno-logical development, hun-gry people in all corners ofthe country can now getDonckers products deliv-ered with only a few clicksof a mouse.

A new website, whichcan be found at www.don-ckersonline.com, will allowthe Marquette staple to ac-cept — and fill — online or-ders and access a muchwider audience.

Jen Ray and her hus-band Tom Vear haveowned the store since thesummer of 2007 and shesaid the staff and manage-ment are excited about thenew possibilities.

“This is a new venture en-tirely,” she said. “We havehad two previous websitesup and they were more infor-mational. We always knewthat once we established the

restaurant to where wewanted it, our next ventureswould be online.”

In the past, the store hasshipped products to con-sumers, she said. Thewebsite simply opens newavenues.

In attempting to establisha web presence, Ray andVear are getting some helpfrom their neighbors. JeffWolf and John Spigarelli,who work at Getz’s —which itself has a multi-mil-lion dollar e-commercewebsite — have partneredwith Ray and Vear and areassisting in getting the webbusiness up and running.

“We needed people tohelp us with the shippingside of things, the logistics,the shopping cart,” Raysaid. “It was all thesepieces that sort of came to-gether. John and Jeffcame into lunch often atDonckers ... and I remem-ber saying, ‘We need

someone like you guys.’”The website, according

to Ray, went live during theholiday season. To thispoint, the most popularitems have been trufflesand sea salt caramels.

As she looks to the fu-ture, she credits her staffwith the progress to thispoint.

“We wouldn’t have beenable to do it without them,”she said. “Their desire andenergy and excitement iswhat’s enabling us to dothis and has gotten us towhere we are right now.”

She and her staff nowplan spend the summergetting the word out andinforming seasonal resi-dents and tourists of theshift.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 250. His email ad-dress is kwhitney@min-ingjournal.net.

By RENEE PRUSIJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Ittook three all-nighterslast April to install thenew equipment atWendy’s restaurant inMarquette.

But to owner Rich Mer-rill, the effort to install anew grill — really, awhole new front line —was very much worththe time and expense.

“This grill has a com-puter brain,” Merrill said.“It gives the perfect tem-perature every timewithout exception. Theburgers are always doneperfectly, never rare,never medium. They arealways perfect now.

“The front grill ‘talks’ tothe side grill and theside grill ‘talks ‘back tothe front grill,” he said.“It’s absolutely amazingtecnology.”

It was a $75,000 pieceof technology, he said.

“But when you are inbusiness, you have todo this type of thing,”Merrill said.

The end product hasbeen extremely popularwith customers, he said.

“The response hasbeen outstanding. Peo-ple liked our burgers be-fore but they really, real-ly like them now. Theburgers are hot andjuicy,” Merrill said. “Theyare really, really tasty.”

The new grill offers aconsistent product.

“The function of itmostly takes out the hu-man factor. Our employ-ees have always done agreat job, but this makesit so easy to get thingsexactly right,” he said.“We always strive forperfection and this takesthings to the next level.”

Wendy’s opened at itslocation along U.S. 41 inMarquette in 1983.

“I have been in thebusiness for 29 yearsand I can say I like theburgers even better thanbefore,” Merrill said.“And we add fresh top-pings to that. Our burg-ers are made to orderand the beef is neverfrozen. The standardsWendy’s maintains are

incredible all along theline, from Kansas City,where the cattle israised, to where it’s pro-cessed to our restau-rant.”

Wendy’s in Marquettedining room is openfrom 10:30 a.m. to 10p.m. seven days a week.The drive-thru is openuntil 11 p.m. every day.

“For us, this has beenbig,” Merrill said. “Thisproject has been a bigstep up from what al-ready was so good.”

Wendy’s has 40 em-ployees at its Marquetterestaurant.

Renee Prusi can becontacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her emailaddress is rprusi@min-ingjournal.net.

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Certified massage therapist Ashley Prudom works on a client in the private mas-sage room of Relax Massage on North Third Street in Marquette. (Journal photo bySteve Brownlee)

Relax Massage a newvenue for massage’stherapeutic benefits

Wendy’s hasa new grill

By STEVE BROWNLEEJournal Sports Staff

MARQUETTE — Does-n’t a massage sound goodright about now?

No matter where you areor what you’re doing asyou read this, nearly every-body would agree that re-ceiving a massage fromsomeone who knows whathe or she is doing wouldbe just about the ultimatein pampering.

But certified massagetherapist Ashley Prudom ofRelax Massage in Mar-quette also knows peoplestress out when they go toa massage therapist forthe first time, even ifthey’ve had massages be-fore.

“People see massage inthe movies and on TV,where all kinds of inappro-priate things take place,”Prudom said. “People seea massage therapist forthe first time, and they’renaturally nervous.

“I always take my cluesfrom my clients — whatthey want massaged,whether they want to talkor be silent.

“The second time I seesomeone, it’s almost likeit’s a whole different per-son.”

Prudom, 26, is the solemassage therapist at Re-lax Massage, whichshares a space at 714 N.Third St. with Char’s Re-treat, which specializes in

products and services forthe hands and feet. Thebusinesses are in thesame building that housesMain Street Pizza and isnext door to Frosty Treats.

Relax Massage openedin September and isowned by Mindy Zorza,whose husband, DaveZorza, was one of Pru-dom’s massage therapyclients at a previous loca-tion.

“The No. 1 thing peoplewant is to be worked onby someone who’s beentrained and knows whatthey’re doing,” Prudomsaid, adding that she wascertified in 2004 afterputting in 600 hours ofstudy and work throughthe former Backs by Pop-ular Demand in Mar-quette.

For full privacy, Prudomhas a private room dedi-cated solely to massage, inwhich she specializes indeep tissue and Swedishstyles, along with prenataltechniques.

Deep tissue, as thename implies, get more in-to the muscles and re-lieves physical symptomsand releases toxins fromthe body, according to Pru-dom. It also helps releaseendorphins, the body’spainkiller and producer of a“natural high.”

The Swedish style offersa lighter touch, more forthe outer layers of the

body.Both types offer benefits

more wide-ranging thanjust stress relief and relax-ation, according to Pru-dom.

They include relievingpain to the point wheresome people are able towean themselves or atleast reduce the amount ofpain medications theyneed, boosting the im-mune system, bringingmore oxygen to vital or-gans, improving circulationand overall giving a bettersense of well-being.

“It’s a natural healing, aholistic method that can al-low the body to repair it-self,” Prudom said, addingthat studies have shownthat people of all ages andpeople such aschemotherapy patients,accident victims and thosesuffering from diseases orsevere life-changingevents can benefit.

Prudom, who is in her fi-nal semester at NorthernMichigan University work-ing on her bachelor’s de-gree in community healtheducation, takes appoint-ments on weekdays byphone at 869-4716.

Char’s Retreat can bereached at 226-4664.

Steve Brownlee can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 246. His email addressis sbrownlee@miningjour-nal.net.

Rich Merrill stands next to the new grill at the Wendy’s located on US 41. (Journalphoto by Matthew Keiser)

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE —Daniel Rutz claims thatwhen he and his wifeBetsy came to Mar-quette about four yearsago, they had “no inten-tion of opening wineshop.”

Today, the Rutz’s Bara-ga Avenue shop, Every-day Wines, has becomea popular destination forwine drinkers.

Daniel Rutz said thatdinners with local friendssteered them to the ideaof opening a shop.

“Again and again theywould tell us about theirfavorite (wine) store andit would be out of town,in Chicago or GrandRapids or someplace,”he said. “We decided tocreate a place that soldwine the way Betsy andI liked to buy wine.”

The way the Rutzesprefer to buy wine re-volves around the con-cept of purchasing high-quality wines for very lit-tle money. The mainselling point of the busi-

ness, which opened dur-ing the spring of 2011, isthat every bottle — savefor those on a small“splurge wall” — can bepurchased for between$7 and $25.

The selection at Every-day Wines is certainlyvaried, with bottlesspringing from France,Italy, California and evenMichigan.

All the possible optionsare whittled down by aquality control systemthat is very hands-on.Rutz said every wine —there are 120 labels inthe store — undergoes ataste-testing session be-fore being sold. As qual-ity can sometimeschange between vin-tages, he said he treatseach new vintage like anentirely new wine.

Rutz said he also triesto make customer inter-actions very hands-on,as well. More often thannot, he said, people willwalk in looking for ad-vice on a wine thatmeets their needs.

“Pretty early on, we

want to know what peo-ple’s price target is,” hesaid. “And what we get awhole lot is, ‘Here’s whatI’m having for dinner.What would you drinkwith that?’”

In the first year of busi-ness, Rutz said the con-cept has worked withsome success.

Everyday Wines is alsohome to a small, yet im-pressively varied beersection, which is popu-lated with craft beersfrom around the Mid-west, as well as bottlesof imported Europeanbeers.

Rutz, who drew somesimilarities between

wine culture and the bur-geoning craft beermovement, said hewould like to strip awaythe intimidation factorthat wine often has onpeople. In much of theworld, Rutz said, wineculture is not an exclu-sive culture.

“Elsewhere, wine is apart of everyday life.Beer is a part of every-day life,” he said. “In alot of the world, peopledon’t really think aboutthat. Wine with food,

beer with food, you drinkwhatever is good.”

Rutz typically offerstwo Sunday wine tast-ings each month, as wellas a Friday beer tasting.More information aboutthe tastings, and thestore, can be found on-line at www.everyday-winesmqt.com.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 250. His email ad-dress is kwhitney@min-ingjournal.net.

6F — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

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“

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”

By STEVE BROWNLEEJournal Sports Staff

MARQUETTE — Func-tional neurology isn’t justa job for Dr. Christa Hub-bard — it’s a fundamentalpart of her life.

Her Horizon Health-Works office in Marquetteis dedicated to the studyof the brain’s control ofthe body as it interactswith the surrounding en-vironment.

It’s a relatively new fieldin health care, but it’sbeen a lifesaver in a realsense for the 31-year-oldHubbard. The formerChrista Goodman wasborn and raised in Mar-quette before she be-came a student-athlete atthe University of Ver-mont.

But symptoms relatedto multiple concussionseffectively dashed herNCAA Division I alpineskiing career as she suf-fered from a disorderknown as dystonia, a de-generative muscular dis-ease that can result in avariety of fixed and ab-normal postures.

After earning her engi-neering degree, she ex-plored some other areasof study, much of it inhopes of relieving hersymptoms.

That started her on thepath to a chiropractic de-gree she received in2007, but she continuedto branch out and discov-ered the field of function-al neurology.

She later becameboard certified by theAmerican College ofFunctional Neurology

and the American Boardof Vestibular Rehabilita-tion.

She continues to putabout 200 hours yearly incontinuing education inareas related to function-al neurology, the primaryfocus of her practice.

“No one else in the Up-per Peninsula has thiscertification,” said Hub-bard, who no longershows outward signs ofdystonia. “My goal is tonot see people all thetime. We want to getthem set up with exercis-es and therapies thatthey can do on theirown.”

As the name might sug-gest, functional neurolo-gy isn’t about theories,but rather initial tests anda subsequent regimenthat allows the brain toresynchronize with thebody and surroundingenvironment.

“The first encounter Ihave with someone isabout 1 to 1¢ hours

long and is a very de-tailed exam,” Hubbardsaid. “I’m looking at alllevels of neuromuscularfunction.

“We test coordination,the eyes, muscles andother body parts.

“We’re looking at bodybalance, because thebrain tends to have an in-accurate perception pre-sented to it by the eyesand the body.

“Think of it as orientingyourself with yourself,and orienting yourselfwith your environment.

“We have maps in ourbrain about our environ-ment, and all of us havediscrepancies left andright, and fore and aft.

“We’re like a coach ofthe technique of humanperformance. You haveto untrain yourself, thenretrain.”

She said nearly any-body, from high-function-ing athletes to peoplewho could be considereddisabled because of dis-

ease or accident, canbenefit from a functionalneurology exam andtherapy.

“They’re noninvasivetests,” Hubbard said.“We’ve had several U.S.Olympic Education Cen-ter athletes here and theysay they were amazed atthe progress they’vemade.”

But older and lessabled people can alsobenefit. While they prob-ably wouldn’t be ready toenter the Olympics aftertherapy, almost withoutexception people readilysee improvementwhether with pain, bal-ance and/or improvedphysical abilities.

After recently movingher office to 1229 W.Washington St., acrossfrom ShopKo and Office

Max, Goodman saidword of mouth hasbrought her a large partof her business, includ-ing referrals from physi-cal trainers and evenphysicians.

For more information,call Horizon HealthWorksat 225-8011, email

d rhubba rd@hor i zon -healthworks.com or visitthe website www.Hori-zonHealthWorks.com.

Steve Brownlee can bereached at 906-228-2500,ext. 246. His email ad-dress is sbrownlee@min-ingjournal.net.

PROGRESS2012 The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 7F

Horizon HealthWorks focuses onthe study of functional neurology

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We’re looking at bodybalance, because thebrain tends to have aninaccurate perceptionpresented to it by theeyes and the body.

“

- DR. CHRISTA HUBBARDCertified in functional neurology

”

Left, Hadli Gregg, 8, of Norway, Mich follows the ball at the end of the rod being held by Dr. Christa Hubbard at the Horizon HealthWorks office in Marquette. The test helpsHubbard examine Gregg's eye tracking abilities for her body stability and ease of reading. Right, Tony Elliott of Ishpeming undergoes a computerized dynamic posturogra-phy — a test that establishes a baseline for his stability and balance — under the watchful eye of Dr. Christa Hubbard, right, and her officer manager and doctor's assistantBritta Carlson at the Horizon HealthWorks office in Marquette. (Journal photos by Steve Brownlee)

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By Journal StaffMARQUETTE —Last fall,

the Third Street businessdistrict became part of thecity’s Downtown Develop-ment Authority district.

Following a public hear-ing in which a number ofThird Street property andbusiness owners spokeoverwhelmingly in favor ofbeing included in the DDA,the Marquette City Com-mission voted unanimous-ly in September to approvethe DDA expansion.

Mike Stucko, co-owner ofStucko’s Pub and Grill,said having the DDA com-bined with Third Street willbe a powerful entity in theUpper Peninsula.

“With all of our diversityin shopping, services andfantastic dining, we will ri-val anything any downtownhas to offer in the state ofMichigan,” he said.

Christine Pesola, whoowns property in the previ-ous DDA district and ownsproperty on Third Street,said with the help of theDDA, Third Street can be-come a vital corridor be-tween downtown and Mar-quette General Hospitaland Northern MichiganUniversity.

Michelle Butler, whoowns property on ThirdStreet, said expansion ofthe DDA district is in thebest interest of everyoneon Third Street and in TheVillage. She said the ser-vices the DDA can providewill bring more people toThird Street and make it adestination for visitors.

As part of the downtowndistrict, those Third Streetproperty owners will haveto pay an additional 2 millsin property tax. That to$200 of tax on $100,000 ofproperty tax value. The ex-tra tax would come back tothe DDA to spend on de-velopment, maintenanceand promotion within thedistrict.

“As a private-entity per-son I don’t take to spend-ing money haphazardly,”said Commissioner DavidSaint-Onge. “In this case, ifthere’s an overwhelmingsupport from the businesscommunity to self-invoke atax on themselves to gaina foothold, make theirplaces of business better,so be it.”

Earlier in the year, an in-formational letter and sur-vey card was mailed toeach Third Street propertyowner on record — 61property owners represent-ing 76 parcels — to deter-mine the level of support toinclude Third Street, fromRidge Street to Fair Av-enue, in the DDA district.

At the deadline, 38 re-sponses were receivedwith 30 owners voting in fa-vor of the expansion andeight property owners vot-ing no.

8F — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

Local is A l ive…Marquet te ’s Downtown Dis t r ic t

UP200

Farmer ’s Market

Ar t on the Rocks

Photo by Jack Deo

Hockey on Thi rd

New Year ’s Eve Bal l Drop

Photo by Jack Deo

Skating at the Commons

Blueberr y Fest

Tr ick or Treat ing

Tree L ight ing

Plus Beerfest, Seafood Fest, Blues Fest, Tall Ships, Kiddie Mutt Races,

Ladies Night, Christmas Parade,and more!

Marquette Downtown Development Authority

downtownmarquette.org

Downtown DevelopmentAuthority expands toencompass Third Street

With all of our diver-sity in shopping, ser-vices and fantasticdining, we will rivalanything any down-town has to offer in thestate of Michigan

“

- MIKE STUCKOCo-owner of Stucko!s Pub and Grill

”