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July 31 grand opening set for renovated, repurposed Revenue Building
Once home to more than 100 state employees, a building in Ely’s business park has been purchased, repurposed and about to take on a new life.
The former Revenue Building on Miners Drive is now the site of the “community hub” building developed by the Ely Area Community Foundation.
An offshoot of the Ely Regional Community Complex initiative, the current project will put several entities - including Happy Days Learning Center - under one roof.
“Our mission is just to make this place for the community,” said Todd Heiman, one of a handful of EACF board members who has worked for years to advance the project. “We’re trying to get groups of different people together in the facility. We have kids. We have (adults). A workout facility that hopefully benefits both.”
An extensive remodeling and renovation project fueled by a $1.2 million federal grant is nearly complete, and a grand opening celebration at the building is set for July 31, with operations to begin the following day.
Primary tenants at the moment include not only Happy Days, which will offer child care services for up to 45 children - but Functional Fitness, Northwoods Partners and the Ely Behavioral Health Network.
Another space remains vacant and is being eyed as a venue for potential community gatherings.
The EACF is also looking to the future, including a possible swimming pool/aquatic center addition as well as development of outdoor areas for a potential plaza and community activity.
The group may also look to the south and seek creation of a pathway that would lead to Eighth Avenue East and Whiteside Park.
“We talked about maybe getting a path into the woods,” said EACF board member Dave Marshall. “Believe it or not this building is three blocks from Whiteside Park. If we can get through the woods we’d have pretty direct access to the park.”
The purchase and repurposing of the Revenue Building has been a project more than two years in the making, while Marshall, Heiman, Kurt Soderberg and Jeff Sundell - who all addressed the project at this week’s Rotary gathering - have spent at least a decade trying to advance plans for a regional community complex.
Despite $6 million in private pledges, efforts to establish a facility first at the school campus and later at Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital fell by the wayside.
The group turned next to the business park and the Revenue Building, which went on the market when the state of Minnesota opted to shift its local Department of Revenue employees to remote work.
Soderberg said the building was large enough and had amenities, including kitchen space and locker room, that made it attractive for a community complex.
The demand for more child care options in Ely meshed with the EACF’s efforts and Happy Days reached an agreement to be a tenant in the refurbished building.
That alliance helped secure a U.S. Department of Agriculture Grant of $1.2 million, and the EACF also reached a deal with Functional Fitness, which is also knows as Heavy Metal Sports, to link the building with the group’s hopes to develop a fitness center.
Northwoods Partners and the Ely Behavioral Health Network will also have office space there, and the renovation project turned a giant area, that previously housed dozens of office cubicles, into separated spaces for Happy Days, Functional Fitness and the other tenants.
Marshall said Happy Days Learning Center will have infant, toddler and preschool rooms as part of its child care operation, and as part of the renovations there was development of a secure entrance to be used by parents bringing their children to the facility.
An outdoor play lot was also built to accommodate the child care center, which will be located on the west side of the building.
The east side serves as the main entrance and will offer access to Functional Fitness and the other areas.
A kitchen area was expanded to allow for commercial kitchen space to allow Happy Days to feed children and to make it available for cooking classes.
The building, which is about 25 years old, was also equipped with a sprinkler system for fire suppression and parts of it are in need of a new roof.
The EACF is also exploring development of an outdoor gathering space.
“We have some things we are thinking about and a grant we applied for,” said Heiman. “Maybe there are low odds, but we’ve got to give it a try. We think this could make it even more of a community space.”
Several years ago, as the ERCC was being proposed, a swimming pool and aquatic facility was envisioned as part of the complex.
Those hopes remain and there’s ample space on the footprint of the property to proceed, but leaders have stepped back for the moment.
“We’ve got to get the building open first,” said Heiman.
Marshall added “the dream would be you might one day see a swimming pool.”
“The swimming pool needs to be driven by programming and what is it we want the pool to accomplish,” said Marshall. “Is it lessons, therapy, competitive swimming. Now we’re at a point where we are taking a step back and starting to have those discussions.”
Marshall said a plan for covering operating costs of a pool would be critical in any plans to move forward.
“As funny as it might sound, getting the capital to build a pool is the easy part,” said Marshall. “The challenge is the operating costs. A pool will not support itself. It won’t in this community. We need to make sure the operating costs are covered before we make a hole in the ground.”
The public will have a chance to get a look at the renovated facility at the grand opening, slated for 4 p.m. on July 31.
“The public is welcome,” said Sundell. “We’re going to have food and entertainment.”
With the city of Ely acting as the go-between, the foundation purchased the building from the state about two years ago and proceeded on a project that will soon come to a head.
“So here we are, nearing the finish line,” said Soderberg.
