the comprehensive Case for Support for this project.

a coast guard foundation capital project
The
Sault Sainte Marie
Community Center
“The community center will be a huge positive boost for the
active duty members and dependents’ overall well-being.
Having this facility available for social functions, members’ physical
wellness and educational activities in addition to the close proximity
to the Coast Guard housing will ensure its use.”
]
uscg lieutenant commander
The Community Center in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan
T
he Coast Guard Foundation Capital Project Fund’s top priority is constructing a family community
center for Coast Guard members and their families stationed in and around Sault Sainte Marie,
Michigan.
Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan is home to eight Coast Guard units with 600 active
duty, reserve and civilian employees and their families. The town is located in
the far northern reaches of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the majority
of the active duty members stationed in Sault Sainte Marie live in a 60-unit
Coast Guard housing area that was built 15 years ago.
The original plans for that project contained a pavilion and picnic area that was
scrapped due to budgetary concerns. Since then, the Coast Guard has drawn up
plans for an all-inclusive indoor community area that will serve as a safe place
for families there to enjoy themselves and build a community during the long
Michigan winters. The plans call for a 4,000 square-foot building with a kitchen,
a workout room, an activities room and an outdoor deck.
“ A new community and
fitness center would be
a welcome addition
out at housing, especially
during the extended
winter months here in
the upper peninsula.”
]
uscg petty officer 1st class
The community center at Sault Sainte Marie will help instill a strong feeling of community, as well as build esprit-decorps among the units based there. Coast Guard civil engineers have construction drawings finished, and the Coast Guard
Foundation is working with its loyal and supportive donor base to raise the needed funds.
The Coast Guard Foundation has a long history of funding major capital projects in Coast Guard communities throughout
the country. The Foundation has funded family recreation centers in Dauphin Island, Alabama and Valdez, Alaska, as well
as a swimming pool in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and a state-of-the-art athletic track at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
in New London, Connecticut. These major projects serve as permanent reminders to the men and women of the Coast
Guard that there is a community of people who value their work and support their mission. Supporting capital projects is
a way for donors to be part of a lasting effort to improve the lives of Coast Guard personnel.
The community center has strong support among personnel in Sault Sainte Marie. “I believe a community center out in
housing would be a great thing for the enlisted members and their families. It would give them places to host events and
birthdays and would also give us a new place to work out with newer equipment. I truly believe that if we had one it would
be a great thing and put to great use,” said one enlisted Coast Guard member stationed in Sault Sainte Marie.
The Proposed Sault Sainte Marie Community Center
The Proposed Community Center Floor Plan
Coast Guard Sector Sault
Sainte Marie, Guardians of
the Northern Lakes
Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie is responsible for all
Coast Guard missions on Lake Superior and Northern Lakes
Michigan and Huron, including surrounding navigable
waterways, search and rescue, law enforcement, aids to
navigation, marine safety, and homeland security.
Located on the St. Mary’s River in Sault Sainte Marie,
Michigan, the Sector is the operational and administrative
commander of 15 subordinate field units, which include eight
multi-mission small boat stations, one marine safety unit, two
aids to navigation teams, and four Coast Guard cutters.
Sector Sault Sainte Marie’s missions are accomplished by a
dedicated workforce of active duty and civilian personnel.
The all-volunteer Coast Guard Auxiliary, 9th Central Region,
supports Sector Sault Sainte Marie performing a wide variety
of operational, educational, support and training missions
with personnel throughout the region.
“Coast Guard Sector Sault
Sainte Marie is a family;
our community
center represents
that family as our
collective home.”
uscg yeoman chief
petty officer
]
the sault sainte marie community center
cover: Seamen inspect a navigational aid prior to setting it in the water in the Great Lakes river
system. uscg photo by pa2 matthew schofield. page 2: Coasties in Michigan learn techniques
for rescuing people on ice-covered bodies of water. uscg photo by pa2 lauren jorgensen.
page 3: CGC Mackinaw and CGC Neah Bay break track lines for commercial vessels in Lake St. Clair.
uscg photo by ens guillermo colom. Brash ice builds around White Shoal Light in Northern Lake
Michigan. uscg photo by pac jeff hall. CGC Mackinaw breaks ice in Whitefish Bay to facilitate
the spring shipping season in the Great lakes. uscg photo by pa3 class george degener.
page 6: Three crewmembers from Station Sault Sainte Marie. uscg photo by pa3 annie r. berlin.
page 7: Two members of an ice survey team take core samples of ice in Green Bay while
CGC Mackinaw conducts ice trials. uscg photo by aet2 adam morehouse. A technician from Station
Sault Sainte Marie offloads the faithful friend of a woman rescued from her flooded home.
uscg photo by pa bill colclough. The crew of CGC Mackinaw tends to a winter buoy channel marker
that was pushed off station by thick ice along the shipping lane in Sault Sainte Marie. uscg photo
by pa1 adam eggers. A crewman from Station Sault Sainte Marie. uscg photo by pa3 annie r. berlin.
back cover: CGC Katmai Bay transits the Sault Sainte Marie locks. uscg photo by pac jeff hall.
394 taugwonk road, stonington, connecticut 06378
t: 860-535-0786 ] f: 860-535-0944 ] CoastGuardFoundation.org