ISHPEMING — You could see the excitement on the City Manager’s face; a meeting at City Hall was held today to unveil some major upgrades to the city of Ishpeming.

The city council has wanted these renovations done for years, and today’s tour unveiled the upgrades that have been since been put together. It was a $1.6 million project done in collaboration with the USDA World Development Division.

“The USDA project put in a new heating system at the police, fire, and public works; (it) put in new electrical systems at the police, fire, and public works;” Slown said, explaining the upgrades, “(it) put in new bathroom facilities that meet code instead of the old bathrooms which didn’t; we also put in new LED lighting and replaced some of the old office areas in the public works drive which didn’t even have insulation.”

Some minor upgrades to the City Hall building make a major difference for the council. An elevator was installed that can bring anyone up to the second floor, which is where the conference room is set-up. This allows for the city council to legally hold meetings there, as the elevators make the building ADA compliant.

Slown’s major concern was setting the city up to function smoothly for years to come. He says these renovations will keep the city from becoming overwhelmed with costly repairs and renovation needs for quite some time.