Coast Guard plans transfer of North Superior Station property to City of Grand Marais

The U.S. Coast Guard is in the process of transferring the North Superior Station, which includes the Coast Guard building and property, to the City of Grand Marais.

The Coast Guard station, which spans 1.21 acres along the Grand Marais harbor near Artist’s Point, closed in the summer of 2022. From the late 1980s until the closure, the station had been staffed seasonally from May to October.

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.

James Hilt, the Coast Guard’s lead real property specialist for shore divestiture, said that the Coast Guard has already approved the divestiture of the property through its shore divestiture plan. However, the Coast Guard must first complete an environmental due diligence review before the transfer can officially occur.

Environmental Due Diligence: Two-Phase Process

When the Coast Guard divests property, federal requirements mandate an environmental due diligence assessment. This process unfolds in two phases.

The first stage, known as Phase One, 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 It involves reviewing historical documents, conducting site visits, and interviewing individuals familiar with the property.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.

“It merely identifies if there are potential environmental concerns,” Hilt said.

North Superior Station in Grand Marais | Photo by Kalli Hawkins

If the assessment identifies no environmental concerns, the Coast Guard’s civil engineering unit in Cleveland, Ohio, which manages the station’s property records, will proceed with the next steps to transfer the property. That includes coordinating with the Coast Guard Legal Services Command and the City of Grand Marais to finalize the paperwork.

However, if the assessment shows there are environmental concerns, then the process would enter Phase Two. Phase two is a more in-depth analysis of the site, which Hilt said includes taking “samples on the site and then laboratory analysis” to confirm or deny the presence of environmental concerns.

Timeline Still Uncertain

Although the Coast Guard has approved the divestiture of the property, the federal agency has not yet established a timeline for when Phase One will begin, Hilt said.

The hiring process of the environmental contractor to begin Phase One currently rests with the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency responsible for securing contractors to perform the assessment.

“Unfortunately, I cannot provide a timeline right now,” Hilt said. “We are hoping that will get through their contract division, and hopefully, in the near future, the environmental work can start.”

The duration of the process will depend on how quickly GSA secures a contractor and whether Phase One reveals environmental concerns that require further investigation in Phase Two.

Looking Ahead

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

“It will be part of a larger community planning project,” said Grand Marais Mayor Tracy Benson. “Lots to think through with public land so we can keep it available for everyone.”

The planning process will involve stakeholders such as the U.S. Forest Service, which owns Artist’s Point, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the breakwall, city and county officials, and numerous other entities.

While it remains fairly early in the process, Benson said the city intends to work with “Federal legislators for assistance” to maintain and preserve the historical Coast Guard building.

Once the transfer of the property is complete, Hilt said the Coast Guard does not anticipate retaining any oversight, access, or future rights to the property. The City of Grand Marais will assume full ownership and control of the site once the divestiture process is finalized.

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 late 1980s until it officially closed in 2022. 

Kalli Hawkins September 2, 2025