Sled Display on Track in Naubinway
Plans Move Ahead for Snowmobile Museum
By Paul Gingras

Plans are being developed for a vintage and antique snowmobile museum on US-2. Designed to stimulate the economy in Naubinway, the museum will include space for sleds, a meeting room for the Naubinway/Engadine Merchants Association, a tourism information center, and a meeting place for elders of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

The idea was sparked by years of positive reviews by participants in the Naubinway Antique and Vintage Snowmobile Show, some of whom are snowmobile collectors who want to show their sleds yeararound, said organizer Charlie Vallier.

Collectors consider the Naubinway stretch of US-2 a perfect location for a museum because it already is known for snowmobiling, owing to the annual antique show, which is widely considered the best of its kind in Michigan, displaying about 250 sleds last year. The area is also near popular state-owned snowmobile trails, Mr. Vallier said.

The facility will be called the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum, which is also the name of the recently formed, nonprofit group in charge of organizing the project. The group currently has between 15 and 20 members who represent snowmobile enthusiasts as well as local business owners who believe the museum will help promote area commerce and enhance the community, Mr. Vallier said.

Rather than charging for entrance to the museum, visitors will probably be asked for a donation, and the facility will also include a gift shop with a snowmobiling theme.

Mr. Vallier plans to show some of his own snowmobiles there. He currently keeps 150 sleds in a building north of Engadine. Even without advertising, he has received many requests over the years from snowmobile enthusiasts who wanted to view his collection, adding to his confidence that a facility on the heavily trafficked, US-2 tourist route will be a success.

Mackinac County, the Garfield Township Board of Trustees, and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians are backing the museum. All three entities have written letters of support, he said.

The county has donated $10,000 to help develop the museum, which is considered part of its economic development strategy. The tribe is drawing up a contract to lease one acre of land to the committee for the facility. The parcel is on the north side of US-2, across from the First National Bank of St. Ignace branch. Construction costs for the facility, which include landscaping, a septic system, and a well, are roughly estimated to cost $200,000, Mr. Vallier said.

There are other groups interested in the project, Mr. Vallier added. Organizers will meet with more interested parties in February and present drawings of the 10,000-square-foot building, in hopes of generating more support, he explained.

The project is in its infancy, he told The St. Ignace News. The Top of the Lake organization is in the process of creating its budget plan, which will include future fundraisers. To develop this plan, members are working with an Escanaba-based firm called 1st Step Inc., which helps small businesses get on their feet.

This year, the 15th Annual Naubinway Antique and Vintage Snowmobile Show will be Friday, February 16, and Saturday, February 17.