Looking back at 2022 in the Blue Water Area
Liz Shepard
The Blue Water Area saw growth and loss throughout the past year, as the area and world continued to grapple with the pandemic.
The start of the year involved continued controversy surrounding the response to COVID-19. But as cases dwindled, a sense of normalcy took hold and new developments have been lauded in recent months.
Take a look back at some of the top stories of the year:
COVID order causes upheaval
A masking requirement for school children from the St. Clair County Health Department in late 2021 dominated public forums in the beginning of the year.
County commissioners ultimately decided to split the positions held by Dr. Annette Mercatante, who penned the mask order, and hired two people to fill her role.
“I just want people to know that this wasn’t a voluntary retirement. I get a lot of people going, ‘Congratulations on your retirement,’ and it’s the last thing in the world I wanted to do is leave this staff and public health at this point. It’s with a really heavy heart that I’m leaving,” she said during an interview in June.
The county surpassed more than 10,000 active COVID-19 cases in January.
New developments
There were plenty of investments into St. Clair County communities throughout 2022. Here are a few of them:
- The first tenants of the Wrigley Center in downtown Port Huron started moving in by the end of the year. The $13 million, four-story, mixed-use entertainment space is expected to start seeing businesses open inside in January.
- Magna Electric Vehicle Structures announced a $426 million investment in its St. Clair facility, with 920 new jobs to be created over three years.
- Canadian-based Axiom Group leased the former Keihin plant in Capac, bringing up to 200 jobs and another $12 million in investment.
- Steven Fernandez and Michele Jones opened a long-awaited boutique grocery store in downtown Port Huron in March. The couple bought the former Woolworth’s building in 2018. They also operate a Country Style Market in Fort Gratiot.
- DTE brought online its $1 billion Blue Water Energy Center in June.
- Woda Cooper Companies, which has a presence in 16 states, announced in September plans to buy the former River District Market site for $1, with plans to construct 58 two- and three-bedroom condos for sale in a four-story building.
City's last paper mill shutters, large developments enter receivership
Dunn Paper closed its Port Huron location Nov. 18.
Ashley Carpenter, vice president of human resources for Dunn Paper, has said the Port Huron plant, 218 Riverview St., had about 100 employees at the time. They were notified of the closure in September.
"This is a true loss for the community, as they have been a great employer here for almost 100 years," Port Huron City Manager James Freed said at the time.
In August 2021, Domtar Corp. announced it would be closing its Port Huron mill at 1700 Washington Ave., eliminating about 200 jobs. That mill had been in operation for more than 130 years. The state filed a lawsuit against the company in December for allegedly composting paper sludge contaminated with PFAS.
Ongoing developments also hit rough patches.
Jeff Katofsky, the California lawyer who bought the St. Clair Inn in early 2016 and spoke positively of his purchase plans of the old Harrington Inn in 2018 in Port Huron, saw both sites enter receivership, the case cited millions in unpaid loans.
The St. Clair Inn remains in operation as the case continues through the court system.
Contact Liz Shepard at lshepard@gannett.com.