Greener Space by Spring at Former Nelson’s site

Baileys waterfront now. Photo by Rachel Lukas.

Town board approves contracts for new park

The former Nelson’s hardware and motel site will become a park lawn with stone benches overlooking the marina and Lake Michigan come spring.

Baileys Harbor Town Board on Nov. 20 unanimously approved park-construction and shoreline stone revetment contracts to complete the new park space.

The parkland will include eight stone benches, including two along the shoreline that will be installed first. Six of the stone benches will be placed in the park after it’s sodded.

They’re heavy, but more moveable than permanent concrete pads for more-typical park benches, said David Eliot, town board chair. Town staff members or contractors could move the benches years later if the park configuration changes. 

“We want something that’s usable,” said Sue Tishler, town supervisor and chair of the marina, town hall and Nelson’s ad hoc committees. “We’ll have a nice green space people can use this spring and summer,” 

The board approved a contract for Generations Landscape and Excavating for $396,380 for relocating boulders, asphalt removal, constructing 156 feet of stone shoreline revetment, plus a wall including a fireplace along the lake. The contract includes a $20,000 allowance that the town would get back if the contractor doesn’t run into unforeseen problems.

Since the contractor will deliver stone anyway, the town asked Generations for rocks of various sizes as perimeter edging for up to $15,000. The rock will border the marina lot and walkways along State Highway 57 to keep cars, trucks and boat trailers away from the turf.

The board also approved a quote from Generations for $5,720 for the stone benches. St. Joseph, Michigan-based architect Suzanne Fromson from Edgewater Resources and town clerk Haley Adams said Generations could store six of the benches for the interior of the park until sod is ready, unless the town can find a place to store them.

The board also approved a contract with Door Landscape and Nursery for $172,451 with an April 1 goal to deliver soil, perform grading and sod the park. Door Landscape agreed to handle sod-watering for the first 90 days. That contract also includes an allowance – $6,000 that the town will get back if excavators don’t run into buried surprises.

When bids were opened Nov. 9, Door Landscape submitted the lone bid for the landscaping and Generations provided the only one for the shoreline stone.

Town Treasurer Dave Smith said the board omitted an oval walkway from park plans this summer to cut costs and create a simpler green space. Smith said the park project should come in at more than $900,000, which is less than a $1 million target the board set for the park. In addition to the work approved Nov. 20, the total cost includes the $245,000 demolition of Nelson’s hardware and motel last year and a future concrete walkway atop the seawall.

Local fundraising for the Baileys Harbor Open Space Preservation Fund – a fund with the Door County Community Foundation – has eclipsed the $1 million mark and should defray demolition and park development costs, Smith said. On June 1, the town borrowed $1.75 million to cover the demolition and park costs, HVAC work at the town hall and parking lot work on the former Larson’s residential lot at Park Road and Hwy 57.