Downtown Menominee on Green Bay

Mary Hunt

Fresh-roasted coffee perfumes the Serving Spoon Café, overlooking the Menominee harbor. It’s a busy spot through evening for breakfasts, salads, sandwiches, and desserts with flair.

Downtown Menominee's handsome historic downtown on First Street is a wonderful browsing and strolling destination, thanks to interesting, personal specialty shops, a marina and waterfront park, and the Serving Spoon Café The Landing is a well regarded dinner destination.
First Street is especially nice in summer, when the marina is busy, sailboats dot the water, and the sun sparkles on Green Bay. Summer blows in fresh smells – they actually remind one store owner of Jamaica!

Mary Hunt

FNT (originally called Fish Net and Twine) on First Street still makes fish net, mostly for sport fishermen, but has expanded into other niches, including specialty twines for crafts (and even knotted twine for rosaries).

Downtown is centered on First Street between Tenth and Fourth avenues. It's anchored by the big Menominee Marina and the stunningly renovated Spies Public Library and its children's garden. The chamber of commerce's free historic walking guide can be picked up at the library, downtown stores, or the Serving Spoon.

History-minded strollers mightt want to turn the corner onto Tenth Avenue to see a few more shops and some big churches and government buildings. The impressive, handsomely restored 1875 Italianate courthouse is on 139 Tenth Avenue between Eighth and Tenth streets.

Additional historic commercial buildings are one street over, along Second Street. Interesting longer walks or bike rides go out to the lighthouse pier or over the Menominee River bridge to Menekaunee and Red Arrow Park. (See separate points of interest.)

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Mary Hunt

Quilter’s Haven stocks some 3,000 bolts of cotton fabric and displays many examples of projects.

It's hard to believe that First Street had a bombed-out look in the early 1980s. Downtown was so empty and boarded-up that people were afraid to come here at night. Fortunately, however, most of Menominee's historic business blocks, generally from the 1880s and 1890s, had survived virtually intact into the 1990s, unravaged by parking lots or fires. Downtown Menominee had long played second fiddle to Marinette and thus escaped much modernization or destruction for parking. Eventually both downtowns were eclipsed by the mall and big-box retailers on Marinette's sprawling south side.

Downtown Menominee's brick buildings, often with ornamented Lake Superior sandstone trim, have given restorers a lot to work with. Starting in the early 1980s, government projects made downtown's revitalization possible. The big marina was created, mostly with federally funds. A city Downtown Development Authority created tax-increment financing, in which property tax from new projects in a specified downtown zone funds more downtown development. State grants helped rehab downtown housing and restore the city's block-long Memorial Park along the bay.

Fortunately, there's been enough appreciation and sensitivity to historic buildings in Menominee, and an authentic sense of place, that ill-advised and concocted themes have not been applied to existing architecture.

Lately, downtown's possibilities have attracted new blood, and talk about new projects is flying. A lawyer did a great job rehabbing a First Street building for his own offices and upstairs apartments. Fundraising to renovate the 1902 opera house on Second St. is off to a good start. Backers want it to become an entertainment venue. Search for "Menominee opera house" to see their site. (Decades ago a local couple bought the opera house and mothballed it to save it. Now they have deeded it over to the new group.)

An Irish-themed restaurant/pub is going in to a big gray building that long stood vacant. And there's been interest in downtown's biggest building, the white, slightly Moorish four-story department store/theater built in 1928 by Marshall Lloyd of woven paper "wicker" furniture fame. More condos? A few couples who downsized and moved into downtown condos are delighted with the variety of their new neighborhood: waterfront park, library, coffeehouse, bookstore, lots of walks.

As part of Governor Jennifer Granholm's Cool Cities Initiative to make Michigan towns and cities more attractive to young adults and stem the brain drain, "Cool Cities Blueprints for Michigan Downtowns" has been created by nationally known downtown revitalization consultants Hyett-Palma. They then examined in more detail the needs and possibilities of 30 downtowns, including Menominee. Read the plan by searching for the online "downtown Menominee" site. It also has events, news, and downtown real estate for sale.

Here are downtown highlights along First Street from north (and 10th Avenue) to south. Ample parking is onstreet and between the library and park.

• SPIES PUBLIC LIBRARY www.uproc.lib.mi.us/spies), a lavish Beaux Arts edifice from 1905, was built with funds from lumberman Augustus Spies. The decor is full of nifty surprises from past gifts: paintings of pixies and of Robin Hood in the children's room; some sculpture and beautiful leaded glass in the front reading room; a sculptural group of Lincoln's War Cabinet; an 1882 Steinway grand piano.
  Grand civic gestures in the form of libraries were common ways for Great Lakes lumber barons to give back to the communities created by the timber they cut. Marinette has its Stephenson Library, Muskegon its Hackley Library, respectfully maintained for a century. Bay City and Saginaw have impressive libraries, too.) The Spies Library is lucky to be well supported by contemporary benefactors.
  The most unusual artifact on display is a large, meticulously detailed doll house that recreates the house at 1510 First Street exactly as it was in the 1950s. It depicts in miniature the life of Helen Henes Johnson and her family. Toys, a cabinet-style TV set, mother sitting and sewing – it's all here, decorated to reflect the changing seasons.
      In the Spies Library's well-designed rear addition, upstairs seating invites library patrons to relax with a book in an easy chair and look across the marina at the lake.
  Visit the library web site for genealogical and local history links. Call for special events. 940 First St. across from Tenth Ave. Entrance, parking, and wheelchair access on the south side. (906) 863-3911. Summer hours Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-noon. School year: Mon-Sat 9-5, Tues-Thurs to 9.
  
• "CHILDREN'S GARDENS AROUND THE WORLD"/Spies Public Library. Benefactors funded this delightful entrance garden. Theme gardens pay tribute to favorite books, including Hiawatha (fish dry outside a longhouse), the Great Lakes classic Paddle-to-the-Sea, The Secret Garden, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The Peter Rabbit garden features labeled herbs, vegetables, and flowers, and a fish pond. By the main (south side) library entrance, 940 First. Open all the time. Wheelchair-accessible.
  
• MENOMINEE MARINA www.menomineemarina.com). "Our biggest asset," says one downtown business owner, is this recently renovated 263-slip marina and boat launch behind the library. Now the handsome 1880s water plant and tower just north of the library have been saved and reused as a boaters' lounge with kitchen and computer access, for boaters only. Harbormaster phone: (906) 863-8498.
  A walkway starting behind the water tower now lets people walk out along the bay alongside the marina's entire length and enjoy looking at the boats and lake. The marina's extensive web site functions as an informative travel connection for visiting boaters. Boaters from the summer-crowded Door Peninsula love the marina, just 19 miles across Green Bay from Sturgeon Bay.
      The M&M YACHT CLUB by the marina is not just rich people and big boats, as its name might suggest. Rather, it's quite a democratic club of enthusiasts intent on sharing the joy of sailing with a broader public. Some members don't have boats but crew for others. Visit www.mmyc.org for loads of info on events in the park, races, summer sailing school for youth and adults, accessible club officers, and more. Relevant for summer visitors: one-week youth courses (around $85 for non-members) and for adults, evening courses over two two-day time slots (around $100). In the club's "Meet the Fleet" event in June, club members give the general public a taste of sailing.
  
• MEMORIAL PARK flanks the marina and First Street businesses. Its green open space acts as a window offering downtown shoppers a view of the bay and boats. In the band shell, varied summer Concerts in the Park (jazz vocals, gypsy swing, new acoustic music and more) are Thursday evenings rain or shine at 7 p.m. (For details, 906-863-2699 or www.rivercities.net. Tuesday concerts are on Marinette's Stephenson Island.) The yacht club maintains the park and bandstand.
  
• WIND ROSE NORTH OUTFITTERS On Tenth Avenue, this beautiful outdoors store offers quality gear, clothing, and shoes for backpackers, hikers, boaters, bicyclists, and motorcylists. The shop was a natural mid-life project for Mark Aubert and his wife, Freddie. It combines their long love of camping with Mark's interest in local history and desire to give something back to his home town. Gear tends toward the functional and low key, with exceptions like the flashy, techie Horny Toad line. Keen enclosed-toe sandals ($50 and up) for beachcombers, boaters, and hikers are a very popular and useful item. Wind Rose North also has an extensive web site, showcasing an eclectic combination of merchandise not found in any chain — for instance, notebooks from ______ in Leland, across the lake.
  Mark gutted a vacant storefront and restored the exterior to National Register standards. Here are interesting antique display fixtures and memorabilia like old jail doors and the salvaged Dormer Fish Market sign, long a local touchstone seen from the Menekaunee bridge. Boaters use the rentable three-person quadricycle parked outside ($15/hour) to shop for groceries at Angeli's Central Market. 427 Tenth Ave., south side, half a block west of First Street. (906) 863-8240. Mon-Wed 10-5, Th & Fri 10-6 (to 5 after Xmas), Sat 10-3. On special events days also open Sun noon-3. Wheelchair access: difficult.
  
• Lloyd's Theater/ TIMELESS TREASURES ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES . In 1928, Marshall Lloyd of wicker furniture fame built this vaguely Moorish department store and theater. The movie theater survived into the late 1990s. Now it's an antiques mall. (Preservation-minded building owners avoided filling in the theater's sloping floor with concrete. Today's floor is removable wood for possible re-use as a theater.)
  7,000 square feet of space, entered only from the rear, is occupied by Timeless Treasures, a mall of some 30 varied dealers. There's a good deal of vintage furniture; plus collectibles including lots of glassware; paper antiques; and very few crafts. The mall's web site, TTAntiques, pictures and sells hundreds of individual pieces. Entrance is in back of theater marquee, at 902 Second St. between Ninth and Tenth avenues. (906) 864-2412. Mon-Sat 10-5, Thurs to 7, Sun noon-4. Handicap access: one step, then another 2 steps. Mezzanine inaccessible.
  
  
• "ENGLISH COTTAGE" GAS STATION. Early gas stations were designed in architectural styles to blend with new neighborhoods of the era. Then in the 1930s a modernistic look took over, based on shiny contemporary surfaces. Today it's rare to find well-preserved examples of early, quaint gas stations like this one from the early 1920s. A popular hairdresser uses it today. 823 First St.
  
• QUILTER'S HAVEN. Chris Caselton and her staff of quilters take an eclectic approach that encompasses art hangings, traditional quilts, and small projects like appliqué sweatshirts and quilted totes. Examples abound, large and small. The shop stocks well over 3,000 bolts of fabric, nearly all 100% cotton; many kinds of kits; books, notions, and patterns; and Bernina sewing machines. Some fabrics reproduce 1930s and 1940s patterns used on feed bags. The entire staff quilts, and they're happy to help out with technique problems encountered in projects. 707 First St. (906) 864-3078. Open Mon-Fri 9:30-5:30, Thurs to 8, Sat 10-4, Sun 1-4 Central Time. Wheelchair accessible.
  
• AURORA BOOKS and JAVA FURNITURE CO.Booklovers Linda Murto and Ross Parcels have created a comfortable, personal general bookstore with new, used, and rare books for adults and children. Their shop is also an area social and networking hub. Stock is strong on regional and nautical, and also on poetry and the Civil War, a special intetest of Ross. Used books range from popular recreational reading (the mystery section stands out) to serious nonfiction and literary fiction. The sitting area and ambiance measure up to the cozy ideal of an English bookseller. Interesting things like original art and elaborately framed old portraits suit the historic building, which still has its tin ceiling.
  The storefront has room enough in back for a new retail business. It's a joint venture with a local friend and his brother who has beeen in Java for 30 years. Their Java Furniture Company sells furniture made in Java for Indonesian and export markets, using teak recycled from demolished buildings. Designs — sometimes Art Deco-ish, sometimes akin to Mission, sometimes whimsical — are what the factory owner dreams up with the staff. Finishes vary, too. Tables large and small, chairs, chests, mirrors — just not upholstered furniture. The owner of this small factory pays skilled workers quite well. See the illustrated web site for examples. Furniture is not shipped.
  625 First St. across from the marina. (906) 863-5266. Open Mon-Fri 10-5:30, Sat 10-4 Central Time. Wheelchair access: one step.
  
• TRENDS & TRADITIONS. "Gifts, greetings, and candy for everyone, everyday" is the tag line of Ray and Donna Williams' fun shop. They add their mix of home and garden accessories, silk flowers, and things that won't likely be found elsewhere, including work by some local jewelers and glassmakers. A fan says Trends & Traditions comes off well compared with similar shops in Florida resorts. She loves its clever cards, crazy creative lighting, and colorful acrylicware for outdoor entertaining. 615 First St. (906) 864-1568. Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat to 5, June to Xmas Sun noon-4 Central TimeWheelchair accessible.
  
• ART & DECOR This light-filled, bayview corner space in a historic building is an ideal showplace for handcrafted glass, pottery, lamps, and other home accessories, plus paintings, prints, and photographs. In 2006 new owners added to the mix of crafts with things like toy bears made of old fur coats, Bunnies by the Bay baby clothes, Polish crystal, Czech glass and Christmas ornaments, and Dutch gnomes. Artists continue to be from across the U.S., with many from this area, too. Peggy Karr's highly collectible glass remains quite a draw, and there are lots of unusual lamps, candles, and oil lamps.This is a family enterprise: father, daughter and her spouse, the framer. 601 First at Sixth Ave. across from the marina. (906) 864-7243. Open Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat to 5. In summer open Sun 10-6 Central Time. Wheelchair access: one step. .
  
• NORTHERN GALLERY New owner Mabel Bellmore has expanded the nature theme of what had been called Northwoods Wildlife. She, too, is an experienced framer — she had run Framecrafters in Escanaba. Now, in addition to limited-edition prints of northwoods wildlife and landscapes, there are open editions, and Western subjects, photographs, nature-oriented bronzes, and some original prints. Collector plates may depict wildlife, birds, landscapes, and floral subjects. The shop continues to carry hand-painted Hadley dinnerware, high-caliber reproduction decoys and carvings, and appealingly rustic papier-maché Santas by a local artist. 515 First St. (906) 863-4000. Closed Sun & Mon. Otherwise open 10-5:30 at least, Wed-Fri to 7:30 Central Time. Wheelchair access: 1 step.
  
• FIRST STREET TOY CO. Wood toys — classic games, building blocks, old favorites, sometimes made by local talent — are one part of Sandie and Jim Davis's store, along with educational toys and classroom teaching aids. 513 First St. (906) 864-1862. Closed Mon & Tues. Wed 1:30-6, Thurs 1-6, Fri & Sat 10:30-6, Sun 1-5. Wheelchair access: small step.
  
• ELEGANT EWE Martha Tillson's needlecraft shop features a huge inventory of yarns, kits, books, and fabrics for knitting, crochet, needlepoint, cross-stitch, crewel, hardanger, and more. Yarns range from good-quality standard yarns to designer varieties with limited distribution. Classes, custom framing, and mail-order are available. Examples abound. Note new location! 400 First St. on the bay side, 2 doors south of The Landing. (906)863-2296.Mon-Sat 10-5 Central Time. Wheelchair access: 4 steps; difficult.