Main Street Magic: Calumet’s Revitalization

By Miriam Pickens and Kristi Haugland

Have you felt the energy in Calumet? Many local and visiting shoppers are commenting on the activity and excitement in town. For new residents Kristi Haugland and her husband Morten, each visit to Calumet led to more trips down 5th Street with dreams of what those old buildings could be. With backgrounds in Special Education, they ran five schools in Ohio serving about 650 children with autism a year. They often came up to the Copper Country on vacation and fell in love the beautiful buildings and the community in Calumet. 

Kristi Haugland smiles on 5th Street. Photo courtesy of Olivia Wickstrom.

Calumet, with its walkability, historic charm, and National Historic Park, is poised to become a shopping and tourism destination. It is an attractive destination for many tourists and a jumping off point to enter the Keweenaw. Copper World counted around two thousand guests on July 5th, and they nearly ran out of fudge. The Farmer’s Market, located in Agassiz Park, brings crowds to town each Saturday morning. On the north end now there is the Frozen Farms market and a really delicious ice cream place. High’s Outdoor Adventure Gear doesn’t have a store front at the moment, but they were recently invited to participate in a fashion show in Italy. Ramona’s, new in the old 5th and Elm building, is a definite destination for sweet baked goods. In the center there is Cross Country Sports with weekly group rides and activities, Calumet Floral celebrating 10 years, yoga, antiques, records, and framing. On the south end, Keweenaw Coffee Works and Café Rosetta are always buzzing with great coffees, and the Visitor Center is the most awesome historical exhibit space in the Keweenaw. The Calumet Art Center, Gallery on 5th and the Copper Country Associated Artists Gallery, along with Copper World, make downtown Calumet a destination for art, jewelry and gifts. The Main Street Calumet members meet regularly to discuss ideas, problems and solutions to make the downtown even better.

With the eventual goal of retiring in Calumet, in 2019 just before the COVID shutdown, while still living in Ohio, the couple purchased Jim’s Pizza on 6th St. In time they purchased the Gallery on 5th from Babette Jokela. Gallery on 5th carries a wide variety of locally and regionally sourced art, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, and gifts. Most of the artists can be seen visiting the gallery themselves. Meanwhile, Morten started working at Copper Country Community Mental Health, and was commuting from Ohio. As homeschooling parents, they decided to move up to Calumet during the summer of 2023, and radically shift their lives. Kristi now runs the Gallery on 5th and helps behind the scenes with Jim’s Pizza while the couple continues to enjoy their part of the growth in Calumet.

After selling their schools in Ohio, the Hauglands purchased the former Baer Brother’s Meat Market on the corner of 5th St. and Portland. The building had a great deal of structural and water damage but was transformed into two retail spaces and three apartments. One of these retail spaces features William Thompson’s pottery studio and gallery, Copper Island Clay Works. Changes are coming to the Baer Brother’s building. William Thompson is going to move his studio back to the old Rowe Furniture building, where he can work as a full-time ceramic artist. Kristi will be converting Baer Brother’s space into Market on 5th, where she will be marketing William’s pottery, along with hand created home furnishings and décor. Some of the new additions include master woodworker Pat Reagan formerly of Chassell who uses a variety of woods to create beautiful functional furniture. Dick Davis of Traverse City uses wood, local stone and metals to create some amazing furniture pieces. Frank Kastelic of Great Northern Art in Gay creates kitchen utensils and other objects using Birdseye maple as well as burl wood tables. Their work will be featured in the Market on 5th. Kristi feels that these types of pieces can be showcased more effectively in a space dedicated to this type of work. Local artists who are creating high end furnishings and looking for a space to market them are encouraged to contact Kristi by email at info@galleryon5th.com. Kristi told me, “Vacationers and locals love knowing that they can come into these galleries and purchase pieces that are created by local artists.” Kristi is also looking for the right individual to help her operate that space while she oversees both locations. 

The Gallery on 5th showcases the work of many local artists. Photo courtesy of Olivia Wickstrom

The other space in the Baer Brother’s building that was once Hahn’s Hammered Copper will be converted to Print Calumet. The storefront will have small prints on canvas of local scenery and history for sale. It will also be a place to get your own photos printed and ready for framing, either on canvas or paper. Bethany Jones, who is a well known local artist and marketing specialist, will be running that shop, and she will help people design custom prints to fit their needs. “We had all the materials for the print shop, and we had the capability, but now with Bethany we can really make it work”.

The old Rowe Furniture building is called ‘a work in progress’ right now. The intended goal is for it to be a consignment resale furniture shop. The back will have William Thompson’s studio, and the huge space to the front will have secondhand furniture that you can see and touch before you buy it and sell without strangers at your door. The name will be “Funky on 5th”. Shelly Hahn will be running it part-time at first, and Kristi is looking to hire somebody to run that shop. It will house some antiques, but also modern furniture with a focus on good condition and usability.

There are currently a few retail spaces in town awaiting the next great idea for a shop, and Kristi encourages more people to join in the excitement of Downtown Calumet. Some may have an interest in joining the growing group of families restoring buildings to create more retail space. Although building renovation is expensive, there are grants to help with this. If you come in with a budget and a plan, the Calumet Downtown Developmental Authority and Main Street Calumet will work with you and help you get grants. “Main Street Calumet and the DDA have been absolutely instrumental in helping us do these things,” said Kristi.

On Thursday evening, August 8th, there will be a reception at the Copper Country Community Arts Center in Hancock, showcasing the work of Catherine Benda. Her work is in fiber, paint and paper. The reception in from 6-7:30, and the artist will give a brief talk about her work. The Copper Country Community Arts Center is located at 126 Quincy Street in Hancock.