A license to dream: Common local tourism targets may not be so crazy

If you build it, will they come?

Ripped from 1989’s “Field of Dreams,” some combination of those words is often used colloquially to summon hope of success in almost anything in sports or community and economic development.

In Port Huron, it’s a license to dream.

Among the most recent examples came in 2010 when the city funded a feasibility study with the ultimate goal through a New Zealand outfit to bring a salt-water aquarium to the former YMCA property near where Bluewater View Condos now stand. Over the years also came different iterations for a casino and waterfront hotel combined with other attractions.

For one reason or another, those ideas never came to pass. But these days, the wish list for tourist attractions from some residents is still very much the same — and according to local government and business officials, perhaps, no less credible.

An informal Facebook survey from the Times Herald asking for residents’ favorite or even whacky tourism ideas yielded dozens of comments and submissions.

Many of them shared attraction-specific or location details.

Out of more than 40 concrete ideas, 11 named an indoor water park, seven mentioned a casino, two for an aquarium, two others for manufactured piers or harbors, and well over a dozen resort- and amusement park-related destinations.

In those, six commenters wanted to see attractions on the waterfront at Desmond Landing and Blue Water River Walk — an area around the Acheson Ventures-owned property along the St. Clair River — while five others specified erecting something at the site of the now-closed Dunn Paper, 218 Riverview St., where Lake Huron meets the river north of the Blue Water Bridge.

“I’ve been thinking about this every time I go down (by Desmond Landing) because the Maritime Center was so upsetting to me to see close,” local resident Terri Hoag said by phone Wednesday, referring to Acheson’s announcement last year that the center wouldn’t reopen this season. It had been a place commonly visited for freighter watching and during the farmers market.

A moderator on the popular “The Thumb (Michigan)” Facebook page and advocate for promoting the Blue Water Area, Hoag was among the many to comment on the Times Herald prompt last week. She wanted to see something by the water, she later said, and something that’d bring people close to downtown.

“I thought the city really needs more to have year-round attractions to bring people here,” she said. “We only have one actual hotel on the waterfront that’s adjacent to where you can go watch ships. I think if we had like a Great Wolf Lodge and an aquarium, like something to take over for the Maritime Center. Like me, I have these ideas, but I don’t know how to make these things happen.”

'Why not us?' More on local residents' ideas for tourism

Of the respondents for tourism ideas, other items included swimming with the sturgeon, a waterfront ferris wheel, putting a zipline across the Blue Water Bridge or opening it up to walkers and cyclists, bringing back a pavilion to Pine Grove Park, a space needle, and a “people’s hall of fame.”

One resident, Carolynn Middleton, wanted to create a visitors center where the Star Line dock historically was on the waterfront, displaying photos of ships bringing people to Port Huron — and capitalizing on Port Huron’s past in international travel and its claim that it once rivaled Ellis Island for the number of immigrants passing through.

It would “have a gift shop and coffee shop, as people might want to spend a bit of time also viewing freighters,” Middleton wrote in an email. “Years ago, I had thought of placing this at the site of the Pere-Marquette (rail) bridge that was torn down. Then, the bridge could have been modified to create a viewing tower for people to climb.”

There were also calls for simpler things among respondents: More boat ramps, amenities, and kayak launches, jet ski rentals, bike paths, or a protected non-motorized path at Lakeport State Park.

More than one wanted a stop for cruise ships.

Port Huron City Manager James Freed, who often participates in talks with or recruitment of developers, said there’ve been discussions with cruise lines that dock in Detroit, looking to trade out a stop in an old industrial area.

“It seems to me when we have a beautiful, gorgeous bean dock that can serve as a terminal with easy in, easy out on (Interstates) 94 and 69, we believe we were well-suited to capture one of those cruise lines," the administrator said. "… Those conversations are ongoing.”

Dan Casey, CEO of the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County, was at the agency’s helm when the city’s aquarium push went belly up in 2011.

When asked about resurrecting the idea, Casey said those kinds of facilities, which can be costly to operate, may not be too profitable, and therefore not too likely, unless attached to another development.

“You’re constantly trying to raise money through philanthropy to support them, and that may not be the best fit for us,” Casey said. “So, we really need something here that can support itself.”

One respondent wanted a minor league baseball team and stadium at the Acheson property.

Compared to a standalone aquarium, that one may be more likely.

“I’ve had conversations with developers about a minor league baseball team and stadium. One that would house a Port Huron team and a Sarnia team. We’ve actually seen renderings for that type of stadium down on Desmond,” Freed said. “And those conversations are actually still ongoing.”

Andrew Kercher, community engagement manager for the Port Huron Museums, responded to the Times Herald prompt with a few ideas of his own.

He, too, pointed to the Dunn Paper plant site, envisioning a change in the way the Peerless Cement site became “a tourism haven” with the Blue Water Convention Center, revamped hotel, and boardwalk, and he suggested extending that boardwalk north and turning the Dunn site into a cultural campus.

“Lastly, I would love to see us acquire a freighter! If Toledo and Sault Ste. Marie have one, why not us?” Kercher said via email. “We are known for our freighter watching, why not get a chance to explore one docked right under the bridge adjacent to the former paper plant property? If I won a billion dollars, one of the first things I would buy would be my favorite freighter, the Lee Tregurtha, and plant her right there to attract visitors for hundreds of miles. It has an amazing history, and it would transform the area!”

'Shoot for the moon': So, what would it take to make them happen?

When asked, multiple developers and business officials said tourism can be a hard nut to crack when the Port Huron area requires most of its visitors seasonally, particularly on the water.

“The most desired addition to this region's travel sector would be something that drives overnight visitation all year long,” said Michael Hensley, who’s replacing Marci Fogal as president of the Blue Water Convention and Visitors Bureau this year. “By focusing on developing a sustainable travel product, we can further bolster our position as a premier travel destination in the state."

Larry Jones, who’s behind the Wrigley Center and Ballentine and Winkelman’s loft projects, said developing places for visitors to go takes time. Sometimes those ideas work, sometimes they don’t, but he pointed to things like the Wrigley’s imminent rock-climbing wall or the arcade at Sperry’s as good recent efforts.

“You have to design for the future,” he said. And that means, they have to be fun.

Still, many of the most likely success stories, officials said, could also be the most common on residents’ wish list. And it could just be a matter of time.

“I don’t think a hotel and water park is that pie-in-the-sky at all,” Freed said. “In fact, we’ve had conversations with developers about a possible water park and hotel on the Desmond site. Numerous different developers.”

Casey said bringing entertainment-type venues to supplement what’s already in town is the kind of opportunity the EDA looks for because they benefit residents and visitors alike.

Although they typically hear Port Huron and Metro Detroit are often in trade areas for existing water parks, he said they look for those, too.

“When we’re talking to waterfront developers, we’re pitching the idea of a hotel with a water park or an entertainment feature,” Casey said. “One of those potential entertainment features that we’re looking at is more of a newer phenomenon these days, which is like a digital gaming arena where people would go to compete and watch other people competing. … And we think there’s an opportunity to do that in Michigan because there isn’t anything like that here today.”

Unlikely or not in recruiting tourist attractions, Freed said it’s important they try.

“When it comes to economic development, you never know what’s going to strike. So, you pursue every option," he said. "You have to give every single opportunity at least some effort. And maybe you got a one-in-a-million shot, but if you don’t take your shot, you got nothing. So yes, we try it. We shoot for the moon. And if we hit orbit, that’s good.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Port Huron tourism ideas and dreams