Marquette residents pack into the Lakeview Arena Citizen’s Forum Wednesday during a Marquette City Commission work session to make known their viewpoints on the potential sale of Lakeview Arena. More than 40 Marquette residents overflowed the room’s capacity and lined the walls of the meeting room. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

MARQUETTE — At a Marquette City Commission work session Wednesday, Base Hospitality Group brought forth a proposal to buy Lakeview Arena and turn it into a nonprofit entity.

The Marquette City Commission made no final decision on what was to be done, but promised that this was the first of many steps needed to either make or deny the sale to Base Hospitality.

“We have a financial commitment, but we also have a commitment to the community and that is where the emotional part comes in,” said Commissioner Sally Davis. “Can we get rid of this asset that really belongs to the city, and so a lot of the emotional stuff is the stuff we hear from all of you…. One of the things I hear when I talk to people in the community is, ‘We just want someone who cares.’ And I think we have a couple people here that say they care a lot.”

Base Hospitality owns nine other properties across Michigan, including in Sault Ste. Marie and Keweenaw Bay and even the Ramada Inn in Marquette. All of the properties are hotels or inns of some kind, but this property promises to be different from the rest.

“We would do our best, and to say that we would do whatever it takes to keep it surviving and continuing,” said co-founder of Base Hospitality, Josh Paquette. “This would be our most important property across all the others.”

City commissioners asked for more public input meetings before a decision could be made.

Visit www.marquettemi.gov to stay updated on upcoming work sessions and other community forums.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.