ELY - Made in Ely.

That simple slogan could very well be the take-away from a weekend of discussing ideas and envisioning the future of the community, involving hundreds of Ely residents along with a group of volunteer professionals called the Minnesota Design Team (MDT).

That slogan can be more than just physical products such as snow boots, root beer, granola and coffee that are made and sold here. It can be an attitude and frame of mind held by every resident and visitor that says Ely is a destination for the body and spirit.

Minnesota Design Team members, mostly based out of the Twin Cities, consist of professional architects, landscape architects, city planners and visionaries. The organization has been in operation for over 30 years and has visited over 100 other Minnesota communities.

Their goal was to help the Ely community discuss issues of importance for the sustainability and growth of the area. “They were looking for opinions on what issues are important to us here and they assisted us in prioritizing those suggestions that were discussed with the community,” said Kara Polyner, chairperson for the MDT visit. 

“They really started people thinking and planted lots of seeds,” she said.

A series of meetings, presentations, workshops, discussions and tours, which began with a reception last Thursday night, culminated with a wrap-up presentation Saturday night at Vermilion Community College.

Countless hours of preparation went into the weekend visit, including well over 6,000 emails and numerous strategy meetings, MDT group leader Andrew Mack told the audience in a nearly full VCC theater.

“We feel we have for you a story that unfolds before all of us,” Mack said as he opened the presentation. “It is a story that not only unfolds as we are here, it is a story that is very steeped in a rich tradition in this community. It is a story to be told and the future chapters are yet to unfold.”

The 22 professionals each focused on their areas of expertise in defining and interpreting the results of the surveys and discussions.

Small and easy ideas such as building new signage at the entrances to the city, to large projects like spanning Miner’s Lake with a foot/bike bridge, were all part of the conversation.

Longtime Ely resident Pat Koski said the whole weekend was very positive. “If you don’t have dreams, nothing happens,” she said this week. She made a presentation to the MDT group Friday morning and focused on the needs of Ely’s older citizens.

“We can do all the fixing up of buildings we want and make new parks and hope people will come and visit, but we need more employment here,” she said. “My daughter graduated in 1979 with 150 classmates. This year we have 33 seniors. Something is wrong with that.”

She said she liked the idea of having a group of professionals, some of whom had never visited Ely, provide a fresh perspective. “They were all people from big, metro area and had big ideas. They are very passionate about what they do (with the design team). We can’t start big right away but we can get there,” she said.

Koski said new signage at the entrances to the city can be done fairly quickly at little cost. She said the idea of having a community events board would be very helpful. “Sometimes there are too many things going on and it would be good to have a way of telling people what is happening here on a given day or weekend.”

She also said she liked the idea of having public restrooms available and extending the Trezona Trail up the hill to incorporate the Pillow Rock landmark located on Main Street.

“I grew up here and I used to play around that rock when I was a little girl,” Koski said. “I think it should stay right where it is and we should put some signage up and help people to find it and learn about it.”

Five questions

The community meeting, held Friday at Amici’s Event Center, was an opportunity for those interested residents to share ideas or concerns about the future direction of Ely. The team was looking for opinions on what issues are most important. Discussion focused on five questions, followed by the top five answers and number of votes:

‰ What do you love best about your community? Location near wilderness– BWCA (41), Natural beauty and clean environment (36), Unique mix of people and talent, impossible to duplicate (34), Small town, friendly, opportunity to meet and know many residents (25), and People help each other and get involved and work together (14).

‰The fourth economic leg. Ely’s economy operates largely as a three-legged stool-forestry, mining and tourism What is your idea for the fourth leg? Tech-based business via Broadband Internet (29), The arts (28), Education – expand 2-year VCC / partner with UMD and UM (17), Manufacturing - small businesses (16), Hi-tech industries – small businesses (12).

‰Name three ways to get youth involved in Ely? Let them know they matter, create a context for involvement, solicit their ideas (34), Youth Community Recreation Center (31), Volunteer opportunities ,service, conservation corps, attractions, elderly, college credit (24), Student representatives on boards, council and organizations, Community Betterment Project (19), Outdoor recreation/wilderness – show, offer and teach them (17).

‰How can Ely take advantage of its beautiful winters? Create new events, activities, festivals (105), Increase winter promotion, marketing (46), Folk school (27), Trail system connection to other communities (20), Retreats, (13), Businesses need to stay open (13).

‰What is the next step the community can take to build and sustain positive momentum? Increase the city limits to include more people who consider Ely their home (24), Break down walls between natives and transplants (19), Support copper mining (19), Hire a person to be responsible for implementing the vision (12), Encourage residents to live in Ely year-round and actively participate (8).

Great optimism

Monica and Chris Steele are relatively new residents of Ely. Monica grew up in Duluth and lived away from Minnesota for most of her life, but regularly visited her family cabin on Eagles Nest Lake 1. They are mostly retired and moved to Ely in 2013 from Tampa Bay, Fla.

“One of the many things I experienced this past weekend was the wonderful energy and great optimism of everyone involved,” she said. “I found every member of the Design Team to be respectful and careful in how they worked to create the presentations, utilizing the ideas presented to them from the community work sessions. The team leader described the Friday night sessions as ‘organized chaos’ but they turned those thousands of hopes and dreams into a format that, at least for me, helped me to dream small and dream big.”

She said she liked the varied ideas, “from the fairly small and doable to the big dreams. I’ve done a lot of work with young people in theater and performing arts at the University of South Florida and that has been important to me,” she said.

In her brief time in Ely, she said she has noticed that there could be more for the younger generation. “It’s not that there is nothing here for the younger people but it is just disjointed and spread out.” She wants to explore ways to unify those things.

Monica was involved in the Winter Festival last year and hopes to help with that event. “I am working to develop a Writing/ Acting/Improvisation workshop for the young people that could be a really fun event during the Winter Festival,” she said.

She also sees great potential in the “Made in Ely” slogan. “I like the idea of a shared kitchen space for the community. There are so many cottage industries and so many things that are unique to here. Having a professional kitchen for folks to use to produce those items could work.”

She also said the implementation of broadband internet technology will be very positive for Ely. “Many people can do their work through technology and many people want to live in a smaller community where they care for each other and support each other and want to be part of the community,” she said.

Bed, no breakfast

The 22 MDT members requested to stay in the homes of local residents in order to have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with people and get a personal perspective on the Ely area.

Residents provided lodging for three nights. Meals for the team were provided at other locations around town

Sarah Levar, executive director of the Dorothy Molter Museum, along with her husband, Andy, and 18-year-old daughter, Claire, hosted Minnesota State Capitol planner Paul Mandell at their home.

“They sent us a biography of our guest and I found out, through the results of a personality test, that we had similar traits and we hit it off fantastically,” she said.

“The night we stayed up quite late talking and Paul asked Claire many questions to get the perspective of a young student.”

She said they didn’t see much of him over the weekend. “He got in late and was an early riser. It was very easy to be a host. I really enjoyed talking with him about his friendship with Paul Wellstone,” she said.

As for her perspective on the MDT visit, she echoed the thoughts of many others. “It was a phenomenal experience. They envisioned some huge pie-in-the-sky ideas but also presented some very tangible and doable ideas we can make happen now.”

What’s next?

The work put in by MDT and Ely residents is just beginning, Polyner said. “We are all starting to think outside the box and we gained new insight into what can be accomplished right now and in the future.,” she said.

She said her major take-away from the weekend was the “Made in Ely” slogan that can be applied to everything and anything having to do with Ely. “That starts with the Trezona Trail and Miner’s Lake. This is what sets us apart. It is right next to downtown and can easily be incorporated and brought together.”

New signage for the entrances to Ely is at the top of her to-do list. “We want to start some fundraising and planning and make this a short, doable success in the next six or nine months. Then we continue to plan for, envision and help to make Ely even better.”

Visit the event website at www.ElyMDTvisit.com for more information. The MDT website is minnesotadesignteam.org.