Multi-year effort continues to transfer Coast Guard property to City of Grand Marais

The multi-year process to transfer the North Superior Station property, which includes the Coast Guard building in Grand Marais, from the federal government to the city is still ongoing.

The Coast Guard station, which spans 1.21 acres along the Grand Marais harbor near Artist’s Point, closed in the summer of 2022. Since its closure in 2022, the Coast Guard has been working to return the property to the city, as per the terms of the original deed.

One required step in the process was completed in late fall of 2025, during which environmental contractors visited the site and conducted an environmental due diligence assessment.

When the Coast Guard divests property, federal requirements mandate an environmental due diligence assessment. The first phase of the process is a preliminary investigation. It involves reviewing historical documents, conducting site visits, and interviewing individuals familiar with the property. The purpose is to determine whether any potential environmental concerns exist.

With that process now complete, the assessment findings are being compiled and reviewed.

“They are currently working with the Coast Guard environmental staff on their findings and drafting reports,” said James Hilt, the Coast Guard’s lead real property specialist for shore divestiture.

Grand Marais Mayor Tracy Benson said that the city has been in contact with Hilt for updates on the process.

“They have all the information, and they just have to put it all together, and then we could go onto that next step of transfer,” Benson said.

U.S. Coast Guard Station along the Grand Marais harbor | WTIP file photo

Although the Coast Guard has approved the divestiture of the property and conducted the environmental due diligence assessment, Hilt said the federal agency “still has no estimated timeline for transfer yet.”

The process to transfer the Coast Guard property may continue for another year. For the City of Grand Marais, the return of the property to city ownership will be a waiting game, but once complete, will provide an opportunity for public input.

“It will turn into a very large citywide, well, community-wide project,” Benson said.

Once the property transfer is officially complete, Benson said the city intends to begin a “community visioning” process to gather public input and feedback.

“There’s a lot of things to consider, besides the condition of the building, and what it would require to be useful to anybody, and what would be the best long-range use for public property,” said Benson.

The Grand Marais Coast Guard station was built in 1928. It was staffed in the spring of 1929, and the crew was assigned a 36-foot self-righting lifeboat to use for rescues. Over the decades, the need for a Coast Guard station has changed due to improved navigation skills and technology, the decline of commercial fishing, and the economic transition along the North Shore. In response, the station underwent temporary closures in the 1970s and the late 1980s, culminating in its official closure in 2022.

From the late 1980s until its closure, the station was staffed seasonally from May to October.

Following the closure of the Coast Guard station in Grand Marais, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa launched an Indigenous-led marine rescue unit in 2025, funded by a $3 million state grant.

The initiative included the acquisition of four marine rescue vessels. Two are based in Grand Portage, while one was donated to Cook County and another was delivered to Lake County on Tuesday, May 5.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office will operate and maintain the marine vessel. On April 28, Cook County signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Grand Portage Band to accept a donated marine vessel for patrol and rescue operations on Lake Superior and inland lakes.

Interim Sheriff Ben Hallberg told WTIP that the boat is currently stored on a trailer at the Law Enforcement Center, ready to respond quickly to water emergencies. Hallberg said the Sheriff’s Office is still working to get approval to have the boat in the Grand Marais harbor.

Kalli Hawkins June 6, 2026