150-Year-Old Sleeping Bear Inn to Get New Renovations Thanks to Nonprofit

TV 9 & 10 News shares a story about the planned renovation of Sleeping Bear Inn:

The 150-year-old Sleeping Bear Inn and Garage will be renovated to a Bed and Breakfast through the nonprofit BEAR, or Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation.

“We feel that we want to preserve a legacy of what is here, the legacy of Glen Haven altogether,” said BEAR President Maggie Kato.

The Inn was built in 1865.

“It was fine example of a frontier hotel that was utilized as a lodge until approximately 1972,” said Phil Akers, a chief ranger for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. “We purchased it the next year and utilized it for a couple years for additional housing and it’s been closed since.”

The National Lakeshore had been interested in leasing the property for years, and while many interested parties came forward, Maggie and her husband Jeff, along with BEAR, were able finance the lease.

“BEAR is a nonprofit that was formed specifically for this work here to renovate the Sleeping Bear Inn and Garage,” Kato said. “We came upon the proposal that was sent out years ago and thought, ‘this was something maybe we could do.”

Click through for a video & photos of the renovation.