Construction of new City Hall/Liquor Store building moving along

Despite winter’s arrival this week, the construction of the new city hall/liquor store continues.

With the exterior walls in place, McGough Construction crews are working on interior tasks such as sheetrock, painting, and installing mechanical and electrical finishes.

During the Tuesday, Nov. 26, city council meeting, John Haggenmiller, the McGough Construction site superintendent, provided an update on construction.

As of Nov. 26, Haggenmiller said 95% of the sheetrock has been completed, and crews are approximately 60% finished with taping of the sheetrock.

In addition, he said that 40% of the ceramic wall tile has been installed but has yet to be grouted.

Crews began painting interior walls this week, starting with mechanical and electrical rooms. Haggenmiller said starting next week, crews will begin installing mechanical and electrical finishes.

Windows are expected to be installed mid-next week and may take up to 1-2 weeks, Haggenmiller said.

As for the exterior, crews have completed installing the brick pavers, and 75% of the exterior siding is complete as of Nov. 26.

While the crews are working on all aspects of the new building, the focus remains on finishing the liquor store portion of the building first. The city is leasing the Beaver House as a temporary liquor store and anticipates moving into the new space after the first of the year. The rest of the building will be finished afterward.

During the Nov. 26 city council meeting, City Administrator Mike Roth provided an update on purchasing furniture for the city hall and shelving for the liquor store. The city had set aside $175,000 in the project budget for furniture.

Roth said he is finalizing the furniture selections and will begin submitting purchase orders to Innovative Office Solutions next week. He told the council the cost of the selections as of Nov. 26 is $160,000. However, chairs for the council chambers have yet to be selected.

“There could still be some up and down on that final number,” Roth said. “But I’m feeling really good about it.”

Recently, Haggenmiller installed a time capsule in the new city hall/liquor store building.

Grand Marais Mayor Tracy Benson collected a variety of items to include in the time capsule. “We got a few fun items,” she said in a recent interview with WTIP. The contents include materials from the Grand Marais Public Library, a Grand Marais Recreation Park staff t-shirt, a 2025 calendar from photographer David Johnson, a book on the history of downtown Grand Marais, and a variety of other small items.

The new city hall/liquor store building is expected to be completed in late January or early February.

Photos of the city hall/liquor store building progress are below:

Kalli Hawkins November 27, 2024