WHAT IS THE CULTURAL TRAIL?
The City of Marquette Shoreline Cultural Trail is a public space design project currently in development by the City of Marquette. When initial development is complete it will provide new public spaces, public art, and web-hosted content that collectively honor and preserve the community’s diverse cultural heritage, history, and environment. Which means, it’s much more than a paved trail with signs!
The trail is located along 7 miles of the City’s shoreline, from the Carp River to Presque Isle. It follows the City’s multi-use trail and is planned to incorporate portions of current parks such as Mattson Park, Lighthouse Park, and Presque Isle, as well as new locations.
SITES: Located along the trail’s length will be several multi-functional gathering sites. These small gathering spaces will provide accessible, immersive experiences that help reveal historical, cultural, or environmental characteristics of each site. Each space will be identified by a storymarker alongside the trail.
- Gichi-namebini-ziibiing – Mouth of the Carp River
A complex storied site, ancient, indigenous, industry, and modern presence. - Nagomikong, Nayamekang – Gaines Rock and Whetstone creek
The site of an indigenous fishing camp, then buried by rail yards, now daylighted and environmentally restored. - Seven Grandfathers Teachings Sculpture
Major public art sculpture by an indigenous artist at the base of the Spear Dock pier. - Lower Harbor Mattson Park
Once a large coal yard and industrial port, a large green space now hosts community events and the downtown harbor. - Bagidaabii-neyaashi – Lighthouse Park
Now a public park, this historic maritime campus was also a significant indigenous fishing site known as “snagging point”. - North Lakeshore – Shoreline Restoration
Recent renovations have secured coastal resiliency and are restoring the natural dune shoreline - Jiibaay-manidoo-ziibi – Mouth of the Dead River
Once a seasonal indigenous village site, this area is near an active industrial port and the ecologically significant Dead River estuary. - Presque Isle Park
Registered as a cultural landscape, generations to come will enjoy its natural splendor and significance.
Five of the sites represent historical indigenous village sites, all of which have modern significance and additional history to be told.
![Stories and Site selection: Community Driven, It all began in 2018 with the Hinsdale Map. [Image of an ancient map overlayed on an aerial view of the shoreline near the mouth of the carp river, a graphic of the entire shoreline with five circles indicating where the five indigenous village sites were located]
text: The Hinsdale Map identified five indigenous village sites along the shoreline](https://www.mqtcompass.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/www.mqtcompass.com/images/2024/07/Systems-Approach-11-x-8.5-in-Presentation-2.jpg)
In 2016, former Community Services Director Karl Zueger and the Arts & Culture Manager initiated the Father Marquette Park Accessibility Project. That project included conversations with artists, community groups, and consultants to envision an accessible and inspirational gathering space.
During these meetings, it became clear that preserving cultural history and the environment is important, especially as the lakeshore is redeveloped and changes. This community awareness led to the initial idea of the Cultural Trail project.
Recognizing the scale of the project, in 2022 a “Cultural Trail Committee” was assembled. This led to the City receiving significant funding from the Our Town Grant and the Native American Heritage Fund. The Committee continues to advise on the overall direction and planning of the Trail.
STORYMARKERS
These elements will be found throughout the length of the Shoreline Cultural Trail. Each storymarker will mark an important location along the trail. Unlike traditional interpretive signs, storymarkers will blend public art, wayfinding, and brief narrative information about the place.
They will also include a QR code that links to the MQTCompass website, where in-depth information can be accessed. Finally, the storymarker will also include Anishinaabe language that describes the place. Storymarkers will be the first elements of the trail that are developed.
VIRTUAL RESOURCES
Unlike traditional interpretive trails, the Cultural Trail will utilize a combination of in-person and virtual resources – like podcasts, videos, and other content – that can be accessed anywhere. This innovative approach also allows for more stories to be told and new stories to be added over time. The City’s MQTCompass website will be the primary online space for educational and interpretive content.
The Trail will connect and give voice to the multiple stories, historic sites, natural features, and landmarks along the existing multi-use pathway. Education will serve as the central mission, providing a catalyst for dialogue and a platform to build cultural understanding.
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Trail experience will focus on PLACE REVEALING
Marquette already has a distinct identity and sense of place! Therefore, this is not a “place-making” project; rather, the Trail will build upon existing sense of place and identity. The design should help reveal and make accessible the existing site-specific cultural stories, environmental phenomena, and experiential nuances of places along the trail.
The design should help residents and visitors see places in a new way: Create information, spaces, and programming to encourage better access and use of EXISTING PLACES and introduce NEW SPACES in overlooked places.
Local and place-based: The Trail will feel like Marquette because materials, plants, colors, and textures will be from this place and the region.
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Utilize SPACIAL DESIGNS and LIVING SYSTEMS to integrate stories and experiences.
- Spatial Site Design: Spatial design, when combined with materials and living systems, can create experiences that reveal and reinforce interpretive stories.
- Contrast, but not clash: Utilize designed space and elements that fit into the qualities of each place, but allow each site to be clearly identifiable from the surrounding context.
- Responsive and Flexible to Different Settings: Adapt the physical and virtual components to contextual nuances and changing needs, including combinations of components used in different ways while still maintaining overall identity and cohesion.
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COMMUNITY GUIDANCE – Community feedback has been instrumental in shaping the initial planning of the Trail. This includes identifying the aspirations and future priorities of the Trail.
The trail can…
• build upon and expand existing community strengths in arts and culture
• fortify local cultural knowledge and recollection
• introduce overlooked stories of people and places that differ from common narratives
• be the “spine” that connects other local destinations and regional trail systems
• create more equitable waterfront access and waterfront destinations
• build connections across organizations, neighborhoods, generations, and cultures.
• create spaces welcoming to all audiences
• change and evolve through the seasons and years ahead
The Cultural Trail connects the many City-supported projects along our shoreline.
As of August 2024 the shoreline projects in progress include the renovation of the former chamber of commerce building and surrounding park spaces into a Cultural Center and Trailhead, the new Peg Hirvonen Band Shell, the Seven Grandfathers Teachings sculpture (The City’s first major piece of public art by an Anishinaabe artist), The ongoing shoreline restoration of north lakeshore, and the Kids Cove All Inclusive Playground featuring a large dragonfly sculpture at the entrance.
The project is led by the City’s Office of Arts & Culture, which will coordinate and manage the Trail’s various programs, physical spaces, and virtual resources. The Office of Arts & Culture is coordinating the project with many different City Departments, municipal Boards and Committees, and numerous stakeholders.
Core project partners include: Keeweenaw Indian Bay Community, Superior Watershed Partnership, Marquette Regional History Center, Marquette Maritime Museum, NMU Beaumier Heritage Center, and NMU Center for Native American Studies.
They are assisted by Urban Ecosystems Landscape Architects.
The trail is a community-driven, city-based initiative guided by hundreds of voices over years of work. In the first half of 2024, City staff and Urban Ecosystems hosted over 20 meetings and listening sessions to gain community input. This input has been an essential to shaping the initial vision of the trail, its future planning, and identifying opportunities for implementation.
These meetings have included:
Cultural Trail Committee Members
Andie Balengar, NMU Graduate Student
Hilary Billman, Marquette Maritime Museum
Kathleen Henry, Superior Watershed Partnership
Sherri Loonsfoot-Aldred, Artist and KBIC Tribal Member
Jaqueline Medina, NMU Faculty
Cris Osier, Marquette Regional History Center
Dan Truckey, NMU Beumier Heritage Center
Tracy Wascom, NMU Faculty/ former Public Arts Commission
Future sites are being considered and designed and a CULTURAL CENTER AND TRAILHEAD will be established late 2025, opening to the public in 2026!
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Here is an example of the proposed site design surrounding the Seven Grandfather Teachings sculpture:
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Proposals for parklets within larger park spaces: Presque Isle Park Entrance and Mattson Park Friendship Circle
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Proposals for increasing access to cultural assets and immersive interpretive experiences at the Lower Harbor Ore Dock and the Lighthouse Park Complex
On June 10th, City Arts & Culture Manager Tiina Morin gave an update about the Cultural Trail project to the City Commission. Watch the presentation through the link below
City Manager Karen Kovacs interviewed with Walt in the Moring on Sunny 101.9FM – Listen HERE
International Travel Blog: The Shoreline, the Serendipity, the Sacred – Marquette, Michigan – Sustainable Journeys
You can shape the future of the Cultural Trail by:
- Talking with your friends and family and helping us raise awareness of this storytelling opportunity!
- Sharing your thoughts directly with the Office of Arts and Culture. You can Contact Tiina Morin, the City’s Arts and Culture Manager at 906-225-8641 or tmorin@marquettemi.gov
- Providing your input by contacting the project planning consultant. You can email
Matthew Tucker, Urban Ecosystem’s Project Director, at matt@urbanecosystemsinc.com - Bring yourself and your neighbors to future Cultural Trail planning meetings,
workshops, and other events to share your thoughts. - Stay informed through the Cultural Trail Website (You’re Here!). The website can be accessed at www.mqtcompass.com/culturaltrail
- Sign up for email updates about the Trail, the upcoming Cultural Center and Trailhead, and engagement opportunities via THIS LINK
