Construction News

By Mining Gazette.com | by Kurt Hauglie

CALUMET TOWNSHIP - Members of the Copper Country Curling Club were concerned they may not have a season this year, but the recent completion of repairs to the roof of the building they use means they'll miss only about a month.

Gordon Maclean, CCCC president, said the roof was blown off the former Calumet & Hecla Drill House building during a powerful wind storm July 1, 2011. Club members didn't want to play in the building without repairs to the roof because of a concern for safety.

Maclean said the CCCC had one open house Sunday to celebrate completion of the repairs to the roof, and they'll have another one from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The building is next to the parking lot and garden of the Public Schools of Calumet, Laurium & Keweenaw.

The CCCC season usually starts in mid-December, Maclean said.

"We have no refrigeration," he said. "We have to wait for the weather to cool down."

How long their season lasts depends on the weather, also, Maclean said.

"In the last three years, we've gone into the third week in March," he said.

Because the stone walls of the building are 18 inches thick, Maclean said the season can go on despite higher outside temperatures.

"The building can stand a lot of warming up," he said.

Maclean said the 67-member CCCC formed in 1993. For its first four years, members played in Lake Linden until village officials made a change.

"Then they sold the arena," he said.

The club next moved to the Dee Stadium in Houghton for two and a half years, but that proved to be a financial hardship for members.

"Renting the ice was too expensive," he said.

The Drill House, which is owned by Calumet Township, was next considered for the club, but Maclean said it wasn't the first time.

"We had been looking at the drill house early in the process (of the club)," he said.

When club members looked at the building, Maclean said they were surprised its interior dimensions were just right.

"We realized it couldn't be better for two sheets of ice," he said.

In 2006, Maclean said the Calumet Township Board of Trustees approved allowing the club to use the building.

The drill house was full of debris, which had to be cleared out before it could be used, Maclean said, and at first it didn't have a cement floor.

"For the first couple of years, we curled (on ice over) a sand floor," he said.

Because it was sand, Maclean said it took a lot of water to make the inch-and-a-half-thick ice sheet they use.

Maclean said there was a lot of metal debris in the building, and in 2008, there was a good market for scrap metal, so after selling some, in summer 2009, they had enough money to put a concrete floor in the building, which is a better surface for the ice.

Paul Lehto, Calumet Township supervisor, said the roof on the drill house was replaced by Moyle Construction for $85,000, which was paid for by the township Downtown Development Authority.

"They took out a loan for 15 years," he said.

Lehto said construction started on the roof in late October and finished in early December.

Besides replacing the roof, Lehto said work was done on other parts of the structure, which means it will be useful for quite a while.

"We actually got the building in better shape than when we took it over," he said.

The township bought the building from a private owner about 15 years ago, Lehto said.

Maclean said the CCCC is in the United States Curling Association's Great Lakes region.

"We're the fourth-largest curling club in the region," he said.

Getting the roof back on the building wasn't too detrimental to the club, Maclean said, but it was important it was replaced.

"Basically, we missed a month of curling," he said. "Without the reconstruction, we would not be curling."

By Upper Michigans Source.com | by Nikki Davidson

IRONWOOD -- It's the story of a local business rising from the ashes of tragedy just in time for the start of a new ski season. Big Powderhorn Mountain Ski Resort opened the doors of a new main lodge last week.

It was built when the original one burned down last winter. Construction began in May and was completed at the end of the summer, but contractors are still adding some finishing touches inside at this time.

Owners said the 20,000 square foot building has been well-received by guests, and business is good.

"The guests love it, they compare it to a western resort, which is what our effort was, we're a Midwest resort, but we wanted to give people kind of a destination vacation experience, I think this new lodge is doing just that," Bruce Noreen, general manager, said.

The new building is smaller, but more modern and energy efficient.