A new pavilion, part of a $3 million project to develop the International 500 (I-500) Snowmobile Race’s track in Sault Ste. Marie into a year-round facility, is complete. Linda Hoath, executive director of the Sault Convention & Visitors Bureau, says the city-owned property was previously used only once a year for the race. “In the summer, we couldn’t use it because it was muddy,” she says. “We wanted to transform it.”
The convention and visitors bureau, working in partnership with the city, procured a $2.5 million federal grant and raised $500,000 in matching funds with sources including the state, Great Lakes Sports Commission, and a Patronicity crowd-funding campaign. Three years in the making, the results include the open-air pavilion that can be closed off in the winter and serve as a venue for gatherings for up to 150 year-round, among other infrastructure improvements.
“We completed [rebuilding] the roadway [leading] in. The pavilion’s done. Fencing is done, as is the sloping of all the hills. New electricity was put in—everything is completed,” says Hoath, noting the complex is visible from Interstate 75 and now offers a more polished gateway to the city. It also doubles as a trailhead for area trails.
“It looks like a whole different place,” she says. “It’s not an ugly field anymore. It has transformed the whole area.”
