• HS Softball 4/15: Ishpeming 18, Bark River-Harris 7, Gm 1
  • HS Softball 4/15: North Dickinson 23, Rapid River 8, Gm 2
  • HS Softball 4/15: Ishpeming 16, Bark River-Harris 3, Gm 2
  • HS Baseball 4/15: Negaunee 2, Kingsford 1, Gm 1
  • HS Baseball 4/15: Negaunee 9, Kingsford 0, Gm 2
  • HS Baseball 4/15: Bark River-Harris 18, North Dickinson 3, Gm 1
  • HS Baseball 4/15: Bark River-Harris 11, North Dickinson 1, Gm 2
  • HS Baseball 4/15: Sault Ste. Marie 17, Grayling 4, Gm 1
  • HS Softball 4/15: North Dickinson 13, Rapid River 3, Gm 1
  • HS Baseball 4/15: Sault Ste. Marie 5, Grayling 4, Gm 2
5903 articles
Thursday April 18, 2024
Wells Sports Complex Renamed After Hannahville

WELLS---The Wells Sports Complex has been renamed the Hannahville Ice and Turf Complex after the Hannahville Indian Community paid to make major upgrades.

A news conference was held Wednesday afternoon in the new turf room where the "second" ice sheet was once operated. That "second rink" hadn't been used for years as the complex struggled to even keep its main facility open for hockey and figure skating. 

Well, last year, the local softball, soccer, and baseball community formed an ad hoc committee to look for ways to re-use that part of the complex. The result?

Hannahville, the Dagenais Foundation, and other local donors stepped up, and now that old unused rink has been retrofitted into a new 20,000 square foot turf room that local soccer, baseball, softball, and tennis teams can use.

"The tribe is part of the community, so what's good for the Central U.P. is good for the tribe," said Scott Herouix, Hannahville's Chief Financial Officer. "This project was unique because it was an underused asset that could really be developed for the youth in the community. And it can be done in a way that is sustainable for the future."

The new "turf room" has nets and batting cages for baseball and softball, and it also includes a ten-foot wide track. Lots of kids have already used it.

"Hannahville is all about partnership," tribal chairman Ken Meshigaud said. "We like to develop partnerships in the local communities to build infrastructures, to build enterprises. We've very proud to do it. Our philosophy is that we look out for the seven generations that came before us, and the seven generations that come after us."

Meshigaud says the goal is for kids to live positive lives, and to have positive activities to do. This new facility will help in that goal, he says, especially during the winter.

Ray LaMarch, the president of the Wells Sports Complex Authority Board, says it is completely self-sustainable now, with no debt to worry about.

"The key is that everything that is in this facility is paid for," LaMarch said. "So, now we don't have any debt in our operating costs to deal with."

"Just operational costs to deal with on a month-to-month basis. And based on our projections, that should be pheasable, and this also should be a long-term facility."

LaMarch says the tribe also stepped up a couple of years ago to help the complex buy new energy-efficient compressors for the main ice rink.

"We're probably saving 30 to 40 thousand dollars a year in that area alone," he said. "It's made a big improvement, and we're expecting long-term sustainability for the rink."

The Northern Lights YMCA is in charge of coordinating the scheduling, and is in charge of collecting payment from the youth groups that pay fees to use the facility. While the building bears the name of the Hannahville Indian Community, it remains owned by Wells Township, and is run by the indpendent Wells Sports Complex Authority Board.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see more photos and to listen to interviews with Herioux, Meshigaud, and LaMarch.







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