Ironworkers Walk of Fame Plan Debated
Mackinaw City Council Checks Feasibility of Project
By Paul Gingras

Concerns about whether the Village of Mackinaw City can legally go into business with a private company to sell and install street pavers commemorating ironworkers will send the Ironworkers Walk of Fame proposal to the city attorney for review. Also in question is whether the village should seek information from just one company, or several, in designing the privately funded promenade on North Huron Avenue. The feasibility of the plan was debated Thursday, March 6, by the Mackinaw City Village Council, plan developer Marilyn McFarland, former ironworker J.C. Stilwell, and the public.

The council voted to consult city attorney Tom Evashevski to clarify whether problems would arise from a joint venture between the village government and a private company.

The council also voted to direct Village Manager Jeff Lawson to hire engineering company C2ae of Gaylord to create a conceptual site plan of the project.

The project would include installing thousands commemorative pavers between Nicolet and Henry streets. Inscribed with the names and major projects of ironworkers, it would create a new attraction in the village, Ms. McFarland said.

She plans to sell the brick pavers to ironworkers throughout the United States and Canada, inscribe their names and projects on the bricks, and give the bricks to the village. Ironworkers would get recognition and a personal reason to visit the area. Ms. McFarland estimates she will sell 72,000 bricks to fill the area established for the Walk of Fame.

Village President Ronald Wallin objected to not having a complete plan in place before the council agreed to go into business with Ms. McFarland. He reminded the council that Ms. McFarland, when presenting her plan to the village January 17, predicted the project would possibly pay for buildings or monuments related to ironworkers. Mr. Wallin also sug- gested the village should seek proposals from several design companies, not just C2ae.

"I think we are limiting ourselves by going to C2ae," Mr. Wallin added. "Anything on city property should be done well. Time should be spent accordingly, and you should try to get the best product you can. We probably won't get it by limiting ourselves."

The village council often hires C2ae to provide engineering services in the village, council members noted.

"I painted a very big vision that first time I gave that proposal because I wanted to give people something to think about beyond a brick" sidewalk, Ms. McFarland said. "I wanted to sell the bricks, and I wanted the vision of [the Ironworkers Walk of Fame] to be the village's. The most important part of this is to let the village develop what this product is."

If the village were to profit from the project, Mr. Wallin insisted that ironworkers buying the bricks should know exactly what the money is being used for.

Since ironworkers would not be paying for anything more than an inscribed brick, and a mini-brick to take home as a souvenir if they come to visit the Walk of Fame, development of anything beyond the sidewalk would exceed ironworkers' expectations, Ms. McFarland said.

"I love that everyone is envisioning [an elaborate project], but if we don't start small, we don't start at all, and I can't invest any more money until I know [the sidewalk] will be in Mackinaw City," she said.

A highly developed project that includes features beyond the brick sidewalk cannot be built unless a marketer like herself raises the money to do so, Ms. McFarland said.

"It seems like before you sell a brick to anybody, you had better make sure you are telling them what the cause is about," Mr. Wallin said. "It is more than just having your brick on the ground. Granted, that is what the ironworker might be pleased with, but he might be unhappy to know that part of this is budgeted for the chamber of commerce, part of this is budgeted for the school, and part is budgeted for the city."

To ensure that the project is done purely to honor ironworkers and not for profit, a better way to approach creating the Walk of Fame would be for the village to investigate the cost of bricks, inscribing them, and laying them, and to bring in Ms. McFarland to market them when prices are established, Mr. Wallin suggested.

No one on the village staff came up with the idea, Ms. McFarland noted, and she said that no one on the council has the expertise to run a national marketing campaign.

"You would probably have to hire someone," she said. "Would you be setting the rate structure? Absolutely. But it is my idea. I trademarked it, and I brought it here first. If you don't want to do it, that is fine with me, I can go someplace else, but I feel you are attacking the integrity of the proposal. . . . It has never been anything more than honoring the ironworkers, which I believe we have done for the past 50 years in this town."

Trustee James Alford said he shared some of Mr. Wallin's views, notably that a monument to the ironworkers could take a form other than a sidewalk, but added, "I would hate to see the idea leave Mackinaw for the sake of uncertainties."

The village had intended to build a brick sidewalk on North Huron to begin with, if it could afford to do so, Mr. Stilwell noted.

"Marilyn is presenting you with the bricks free of charge," he added. "I have contacted tons of ironworkers, and they are all gungho for it."

Mr. Stilwell agreed with Mr. Wallin's insistence that the project must be of the highest quality possible, however, but added, "We have got to start somewhere."

The purpose of sending the idea to the attorney was explained by Trustee Janelle Bancroft, chair of the Facilities Committee, which has been studying the idea.

"It seems the concern for the Ironworkers Walk of Fame right now . . . is that the village would open itself to liability if certain benchmarks are not met," she said. "Also, there is some question of going into business with a private citizen."

Benchmarks, she noted, include a timeline establishing how many bricks are to be sold by certain dates, enabling proceeds to be used to build specific portions of the project by specified dates.

The attorney could help the village manager and Ms. McFarland work out the fine details of the project, establish a timeline for the work, and clarify how the contract should read, Ms. Bancroft said.