Some believe significant changes to the city are less than five years out and could include more people living and visiting the area, more recreational and cultural experiences, and a diversified economy.

Buildings, especially in or near downtown, are likely to be taller, because space limitations limit horizontal growth, and we’ll see improvement to Alpena’s waterfront, especially at the harbor, officials say.

Alpena City Manager Rachel Smolinski said her vision of Alpena includes people walking to and from businesses, stopping to enjoy arts and culture attractions, and having good jobs and adequate housing.

“I see our marina looking completely different and having a new look in five years — not 20 — and I think that could be very transformative,” Smolinski said. “I see the town prospering and people everywhere.

News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The State Theater in Alpena sits closed in downtown Alpena recently, but work is being done to return the theater to its former glory.

“That’s what I want to see,” Smolinski emphasized, “people prospering.”

‘THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG’

With each passing day, the sight of progress in Alpena becomes more glaring.

Crews continue to push to wrap up construction of a new patient tower at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena. The renovation of Van Lare Hall at Alpena Community College is largely in the books. Add updates recently finished at the Alpena County Library, a new county jail, and a new airport terminal in recent years, and the improvements to those amenities may help springboard more private investment projects, officials say.

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Ongoing projects, like the renovation of the State and Royal Knight theaters and the former Vaughn department store in downtown Alpena, add to the belief that big things are in store for Alpena, according to economic development leaders.

Along the M-32 corridor in Alpena Township, several projects are underway to expand the commercial and service offerings, including a Starbucks and a new urgent care facility. An Aldi and Marshalls stores continue to be considered.

Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Adam Poll, who previously worked for Alpena city government as the planning and development director, said technology will likely drive Alpena into the future and open opportunities for development. He said that, in the next 20 years, the city may not need as much parking, because autonomous vehicles could drop passengers off where they wish and park themselves in lots blocks or even miles away.

If that happens, parking lots that exist now could fill with new businesses housed in taller and larger buildings, especially downtown, Poll said.

“Downtown is pretty much full now, so the only place we can really go now is vertical,” Poll said. “It will be more dense, and I think you will see a trend where, instead of our developments being two or three stories, they will be five or six. I don’t think that is 20 years out. I think, potentially, it could be two.”

Poll said economic development leaders in Alpena are working with developers on some large projects, some of which may happen, while others fall through. He said the Holiday Inn Express built along the Thunder Bay River in 2017 started the momentum that is increasing in intensity now.

“That was the tip of the iceberg, and I think we are going to see a lot more coming,” he said.

‘PLENTY OF SMALL-TOWN VIBE’

Bob’s Bullpen owner Bob LeFevre agreed with Poll’s assessment in a separate interview.

His store is located on 2nd Avenue downtown, within a block or two from the large theater and Vaughn projects, and a stone’s throw from a possible new hotel planned near the Thunder Bay River.

LeFevre believes that, years down the road, Alpena will flourish, with a bigger population and a diverse business climate.

“I think we’ll see a lot more retail shopping and a lot more people living downtown,” LeFevre said. “If I had to guess, it would be more of an expansion of what we are seeing now.”

LeFevre doesn’t expect that growth to alter the small-town charm so many people love about Alpena.

“There is plenty of small-town vibe to go around in Alpena,” he said. “We’ll never be like a Grand Rapids or someplace like that, but we do have to continue to grow to keep people interested in us.”

Alpena Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Anne Gentry said said the DDA is considering extending its boundaries to include areas farther down Chisholm Street and 2nd Avenue on the north side, opening those areas up to support from the DDA.

She said the future could include more utilization of downtown alleyways and more greenspaces where people can congregate.

“From our perspective, those areas used to be the continued commercial heart of our city, where there were a lot of local, vibrant businesses that served the neighborhoods around them,” Gentry said. “I see more areas in the city that feel like our downtown.”

Gentry said residents and visitors in Alpena will see more murals and quality food and beverage establishments, and more options for outdoor dining and drinking across town, not just downtown.

BEYOND THE CITY

As the city fills, it almost ensures the M-32 corridor in Alpena Township will expand, also.

Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe said transformation of the U.S.-23 South corridor is accelerating, more geared toward manufacturing businesses, while retail stores, which used to dominate that section of Alpena, now prefer the M-32 corridor.

“I see more big-box stores because of the established names that are already there,” he said, referring to the corridor that houses Meijer, Walmart, and Home Depot.

Employment Services Inc. Corporate Representative for Employment Services Jackie Krawczak said that, 20 years from now, manufacturing in the Alpena area could be more robust than it is now. She said great strides have been made in manufacturing over the last several years, but, to keep the momentum going, it will depend on manufacturing businesses being able to staff their facilities adequately.

“There is the potential for it to boom, but the major hurdle will continue to be talent,” she said. “Without that, it will be challenging to grow in this area.”

Smaller communities in Northeast Michigan have high hopes for economic growth over the course of the next two decades.

Rogers City Mayor Scott McLennan, for example, said the opening of several new stores recently and the city’s winning a spot in a state economic development program offers a preview of what Rogers City will look like in 20 years.

“It’s my belief that the city will have a stable economy and one that will offer a number of unique stores and shops, along with restaurants and businesses that will attract both tourists and residents alike,” he said. “Remote workers who can live anywhere on the planet are already here, I would expect that trend to continue. I see a town where a clean environment, well-kept homes, and properties matter, where the cultural arts continue to be embraced and its history remembered. A town with a citizenship that is accepting of all and one that continues to volunteer together to continually improve this town we call home.”

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