MAPLE CITY -- Some suggested burning it down.
But most Leelanau County residents envision a more constructive future for derelict Sugar Loaf resort. They want to see it either returned to a popular tourist destination or converted to a community recreational center.
Those options were the clear favorites gleaned from June meetings designed to help township officials determine zoning and land use for the Sugar Loaf area, said Leelanau County Planner Trudy Galla.
The two most popular concepts aren't mutually exclusive, nor do they rule out other ideas that may still be incorporated into preliminary drafts, she said.
"This is just the beginning, so whatever ends up being developed for there could be quite different," Galla said.
The once-popular ski and golf resort covers nearly 500 acres in Cleveland and Centerville townships. It closed in 2000 amid a sea of financial troubles and poor snow seasons. Multiple attempts to re-open never materialized, and in 2007 the lodge was declared uninhabitable after it flooded with sewage.
Sugar Loaf will need to provide a unique combination of services, amenities and activities to be resurrected as a full-blown resort, according to a recently released report, authored by Michigan State University and Kansas State University staff through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program.
Some activities mentioned in the report ranged from extreme sports and water slides to bungee-jumping and golf.
A community recreational center scenario came from those who prefer a more family oriented, quieter use geared mostly toward locals. That conceptual plan includes an athletic and spa center, restaurant, sports fields and skiing interspersed with residential housing.
Regardless of use, local governments should not direct it, said Tim Johnson, planning commission chairman for Centerville Township.
"We'll adjust the zoning ordinance and master plan to enable both scenarios, but the market will determine which one comes to fruition," Johnson said.
Leelanau County's brownfield redevelopment authority recently hired AKT Peerless Environmental Services for $45,000 to determine if Sugar Loaf qualifies for state brownfield funding that could help ignite redevelopment.
Peerless will look for possible contamination from buried fuel tanks and evaluate the buildings for mold, asbestos, and blight.
Should the buildings need to come down, then burning them for fire department training might be a "swell idea," Johnson said.
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