Municipal liquor store transition: a look inside the Beaver House
Kalli Hawkins
City

Municipal liquor store transition: a look inside the Beaver House

The Grand Marais city hall/liquor store will undergo significant changes in the coming weeks as demolition of the building is slated to begin.

City staff and operations have moved out of the building, but the liquor store remains.

Municipal Liquor Store Manager Chris LaVigne told WTIP on Mar. 28 that product and liquor store operations are 85 percent moved over to the Beaver House.

LaVigne had hoped to move into the Beaver House by Apr.1, but unfortunately, the recent winter storm put a damper on moving efforts, he said.

He said the liquor store staff will work hard to fully transition operations in the coming days. They are expected to be fully moved in sometime next week.

During the Mar. 27 city council meeting, City Administrator Mike Roth said McGough Construction will arrive on site next week.

“Their construction trailer will show up next week. Their on-site supervisor will be here full-time starting next week,” Roth said. Various other pieces of equipment will also be arriving throughout the week.

Although equipment and construction crews are arriving on site, Roth said he doesn’t expect demolition of the building to begin for a couple of weeks.

The city of Grand Marais is tentatively planning a groundbreaking ceremony on location on Friday, Apr. 12. The ceremony will also include a walk over to the Beaver House to celebrate the new municipal liquor store location with an open house event, Roth said.

“Planning has barely begun, so we’re going to hit that hard next week after we’ve moved into the Beaver House,” he said. “Our focus right now is still this transition.”

Below are photos of the municipal liquor store moving into the Beaver House: