News · Sault Ste. Marie
Sault planners take up Cloverland’s lineman training center at old Washington School and a new hospital surgery wing Thursday
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — Two projects that would repurpose a closed elementary school and expand the city’s hospital go before the Sault Ste. Marie Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, at City Hall, 225 E. Portage Ave.
Cloverland at Washington School. Cloverland Electric Cooperative wants to turn the former Washington Elementary School, 1200 Ryan Ave., into a lineman training center and offices. Sault Area Schools left the building after the 2024-25 school year. The commission recommended approval in July with conditions on truck traffic, and the City Commission approved the preliminary plan, Upper Peninsula News reported. Thursday’s review checks the final plans; staff found only minor changes and recommend approval with conditions on lighting, dumpsters and pavement, plus truck-restriction signs before occupancy. Cloverland has said the project was not included in its recent rate increase.
Hospital day surgery addition. The commission will also review a site plan for a day-surgery addition at MyMichigan Medical Center Sault. It is part of a broader renovation that moves the Behavioral Health Unit from Kincheloe to the downtown campus, expands outpatient surgery and remodels the Long Term Care Unit. MyMichigan put the investment at nearly $19 million in May, and the hospital president later told the Soo Leader $22 million; the sources do not explain the difference.
If you’re headed to the hospital. During construction, the main entrance has moved to the entrance under the skywalk off Osborn Boulevard, EUP News reported. Signs and staff will direct patients and visitors.
Residents can also suggest projects for the city’s 2027-2033 capital improvement plan during Thursday’s meeting; a draft is expected back in January. Questions go to community development director Kelly Freeman at 906-632-5703.
Sources:
Upper Peninsula News, “Sault planners review Cloverland center and hospital addition,” Oct. 20, 2026 (agenda, history, conditions, hospital figures, CIP), https://upperpeninsulanews.com/articles/sault-planners-review-school-conversion-hospital-addition-thursday-mvgj60ah
EUP News, “MyMichigan Medical Center Sault to relocate main entrance temporarily,” Oct. 17, 2026, https://www.eupnews.com/2026/10/mymichigan-medical-center-sault-to-relocate-main-entrance-temporarily/
MyMichigan Health, Sault renovation project page, https://www.mymichigan.org/saultproject
Photo: Antony-22, “Sault Ste. Marie MI City Hall 2025a.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sault_Ste._Marie_MI_City_Hall_2025a.jpg
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